* LI BRARY OF CONGRE SS, i 

# 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.} 





/^^ /2 



a 








jcT^r^ 



%,*-<--^ /V-^^c^ 



■'":^ 



/ 



it'l^'ULRICH ZWINGLI, 



THE PATRIOTIC REFORMER. 



A HISTORY. 



BY THE 

Eev. wm. M.^BLACKBUKN, 

author of 

'William Farel," "Aonio Paleario and his Friends," "College 

Days of Calvin," &c., &c. 



i^^ 




/ *^ PHILADELPHIA: 
PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION, 

No. 821 CHESTNUT STREET. 






<^^' 



^^ 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1SG8, by 

THE TRUSTEES OF THE 

PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Eastern 
District of Pennsylvania. 



Webtoott & Thomson, 
Stereotypers, Phi hula. 



PREFACE. 



No other reformer struck out a more original and 
independent course than Ulrich Zwingli. No other 
man attempted to be, at the same time, a preacher, 
author, statesman, military patriot and reformer. Why- 
he gave such varied direction to his noble energies, and 
how well he succeeded in his efforts, it is partly the de- 
sign of the present volume to show. His personal his- 
tory is full of interesting incidents ; his character rich 
in admirable qualities ; his public life conveys a lesson 
upon the mingling of religion and politics which it may 
be well to ponder in later times. The author has en- 
deavoured to set forth the man and his friends as they 
grew in piety and laboured together in studying the 
Word of God, teaching and preaching the truth, and 
restoring the Church to the foundation of Christ and 
his Apostles. It may serve as a companion to ^^ Wil- 
liam Farey^ thus making tolerably complete the pub- 
lications of the Presbyterian Board upon the early 



4 PREFACE. 

history of the Reformation in both French and German 
Switzerland. 

The authorities chiefly consulted are, The Life 
and Times of Ulrich Zwingli, by J. J. Hottinger — 
Zwingli^ or the Rise of the Reformation in Switzerland, 
by R. Christoffel — Histoire de la Confederation Helvet- 
ique, par A. L. de Watteville — Histoire de la Reforma- 
tion de la Suisse, par Abram Ruchat — D^Aubigne's 
History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century — 
Scott's Continuation of Milner — Stebbing's History of 
the Church of Christ from the Diet of Augsburg to 
the Eighteenth Century — Dupin's Ecclesiastical His- 
tory — Gailard's History of the Reformation — Church 
Histories by Mosheim, Giesseler and Kurtz — Gerdesii 
Historia Reformationis — Sleidani, De statu religionis et 
reipublicse, Carolo Quinto Csesare, Commentarii — Biog- 
raphic Universelle — Le Grand Dictionnaire Histor- 
ique, par M. Louis Moreri — Bayle's Dictionary — Hert- 
zog's Real-Encyclopaedie f lir Protestant. Theologie und 
Kirche. — Leben und Schriften der Vater und Begriin- 
der Reformirten Kirche — Zschokke^s History of Swit- 
zerland — Lcdderhose's Life of Melancthon — Cunning- 
ham's Reformers and the Theology of the Reforma- 
tion — Calvin's Letters — The Zurich Letters (by Parker 
Society) — and Switzerland the Pioneer of the Reforma- 
tion, by the *^ Countess Dora D'Istria" (Madame Ghika). 
Reference is had also to such articles in various Reviews 



PREFACE. 5 

as a fall sketch of Zwingli in Blackwood^s Magazine, 

1828, and a life in the Bibliotheca Sacra, vols. viii. 

and ix. The field is not a new one, nor is it barren ; 

and it is hoped that it may be profitably reaped again 

for the benefit of the patrons of the Presbyterian 

Board. To the harvest no denomination of Christians 

holds an exclnsive title. If the good seed of divine 

truth shall be found in the sheaves of this gleaning, 

and there be a soil for it in the reader^s heart, the Lord 

may bless the volume now committed to his care. 

W. M. B. 
1* 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE AGE OF CONVENTS. 

PAGE 

Irish Missionaries — Columban — Galhis — Convents of St. Gall and Wildhaus — 
William Tell — Swiss Confederacy.. 13 



CHAPTER II. 

ULRICH, THE SHEPHERD-BOY. 

The Zwingli Family — The Flocks on Mount Sentis — Ulrich with his Uncle — ^The 
Schools — Ulrich Studies at Basle, Berne and Vienna — Eck, Faber, Vadian— 
Ulrich with Wittembach at Basle — Capito— Leo Juda — Master's Degree 22 

CHAPTER III. 

THE YOUNG PASTOR OP GLARIS. 
Ulrich Ordained — A Devoted Pastor — Bible-Studies — Students 34 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE PARSON TEMPTED TO WAR. 

Cardinal Schinner — New Books for Zwingli — Evils of War — Parson Writes a Poem 
— Appointed Chaplain in Army — Studies Greek — Visits Basle — Meets Erasmus 
and Oswald Myconius — Hears (Ecolampadius — Again a Chaplain in Italian War 
— Old Mass-book — ^Fervent Preaching — Who was First, Zwingli or Luther? 39 

7 



8 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER V. 

PREACHING TO PILGRIMS. 

PAGE 

A Legend— The Convent of Einsidlen — The Abbot Conrad and his Oddities — Ger- 
oldsek — Zwingli at Einsidlen — Band of Scholars— Leo Juda — The Nuns — 
Zwingli's Testament — The Pilgrims — Sermons — Christ alone Saves — Iledio'a 
Kidt — Bribe offered to Zwingli — Faber the Vicar — A Voice for Reform 55 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE ROMISH SAMSON. 

Papal Indnlgences— Samson in Switzerland — Zwingli's Voice heard — Poor Stapfer 
— A Noble Horse for a Paper Pardon — Samson's Tricks — The Feathers at Baden 
— Dean Bui linger of Bremgartcn — A Sharp Di^bate 67 



CHAPTER VII. 

A NEW STYLE OP PREACHING. 

MjTonius at Zurich — Zwingli Follows — Joy of Swiss Students — Olarean — Must 
Zwingli be a Rent-collector? — New Year's Day Sermon — Sensation — Zwingli's 
Popularity — Fond of Music — " Studies too much !" — Book-hawker — Samson not 
Endured at Zurich — A Victory for the Gospel 74 



CHAPTER VIII. 

PATRIOTIC LABOURS. 

The Mercenaries — The "Right of War" — Evils of Selfishness— Tiio (lospel a 
Remedy for Political Evils S6 

CHAPTER IX. 

THE SCHOOL OP THE CROSS. 

Zwingli at the Baths of Pfefferw— The "OroAt Death" in Ziirich— Zwingli Exposed 
— SIcknwH — Repov<»ry — Myconius goes to Lucernt! — Zwingli at Basle — Capito— 
Hedio— Stahol— Attemptij upon Zwingli's life 94 



CONTENTS. 9 

CHAPTER X. 

ANNA REINHARD AND HER HOME. 

PAGE 

Gerold Meyer — Anna Hears and Believes — Her Marriage to Zwingli — Her Jewels 
sold for the Poor — Hospitality— Musical Entertainments — Exiles as Guests — 
The Knight, Ulrich Hutten— His Writings, Life and Death 107 

CHAPTER XL 

THE MONKS AND NUNS. 

Plenty of each — Faber shows his Real Self— Eck — Cries against Zwingli— A Con- 
ference — Reform in Danger — Burgomaster Roust — The Good Triumphs — Four 
Attacks on Zwingli — He writes Archdeles — His Prayer — Papists Threaten to 
Bawl — Zwingli and Leo Juda preach to the Nuns — Good Results — Wealth of 
Convents given to the Poor 119 

CHAPTER XII. 

THE TWO PETITIONS. 

Synod at Einsidlen — One Petition to the Bishop — Another to the Confederate 
Diet — Haller and the Bears of Berne — Manuel and his Satires — A Comedy over 
a Skull — The Wattevilles — Sebastian Meyer — Haller and Fare! 133 

CHAPTER XIII. 

MYCONIUS IN TROUBLE. 

Lucerne given to Popery — Attacks on Myconius — Xyloctect — HofFmeister — Con- 
rad Smith's Eloquence — Oswald Circulates the Two Petitions — Only Three Men 
for the Gospel — ^Myconius Banished — Goes to Einsidlen — Thence to Zurich — 
An Original Genius — Thomas Plater — Francis Lambert on his Donkey 148 

CHAPTER XIV. 

NEW TRIUMPHS. 

Hetzer writes against Images — Hottinger Destroys them — Images as Firewood — 
Hottinger Banished — Urban Weiss Seized — Leo Juda and the Monk — A Con- 
ference — Hunting down an Aged Believer — Faber's Reserve — A Poor Parson 
wants a Testament — Pope tries to win Zwingli — The Reformer must be Crushed 
— Hottinger Beheaded 161 



10 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XV. 

HANS WIRTH AND HIS SONS. 

PAQE 
A Victim wanted by Bailiff Amberg — Exlin Seized — The Wirths nisb to the Rea- 

ciie — An Army Improvised — Convent of Ittingen Burned — The Wirtha Arrested 

— Tried by Torture — Adrian set Free — Hans and John Executed for their 

Faith — Zwingli's Dream 176 

CHAPTER XVI. 

A LOOK WESTWARD. "^ 
Vadian at St. Gall— The Gospel in Appenzell — Burkli teaches the Grisons — Priest 
of Mayenfield — Comander at Coire — Zwingli's Brothers — The Tockenburgers — 
The Gospel in Glaris — Grebel and the Fanatics 187 

CHAPTER XVII. 

A NEW CHAMPION. 
GScolampadius in a Convent— Goes to Basle — Receives William Farel — Will he 
Agree with Luther or Zwingli? — Disputation at Baden — Contrast between Pa- 
pists and Reformers — Thomas Plater and his Chickens — Carries notes to 
Zwingli — Papists claim a Victory 201 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

ZWINGLI AT BERNE. 
The Throo Groat Contros — TIallpr at Work — Francis Kolb— Conference at Borne — 
PnpistH will not Attoiid — Zwingli Preachos at Baslo — Priest Converted — Mass 
Kni^.ik.ii— TmiK'.'^ :iii,l On^in I{n,k<.n— A bloodless Strife 213 

CHAPTER XIX. 

THE UPRISING IN BASLE. 
A New RlHhop — People Imitate Berno — Destroy Inuiges — Two Parties nndor Arms 
— (KcolampadiuM Preaches — A Night of Terror— A groat Fire made of Images — 
Tho Monks floe — Erasmus makes himself RidiculouH an<l Flees — (Ecolampadini 
Marries ^ 226 



CONTENTS. 11 

CHAPTER XX. 

ZWIN6LI FACES LUTHER. 

PAQB 

Philip of Ilesse — His Conversion — Francis Lambert — A Priest reads some Theses 
— Philip would Unite Zwingli and Luther — Invites them to a Conference at 
Marburg — The Leading Reformers Present — Earnest Discussions on the Lord's 
Supper— Luther's Obstinacy — His Text on the Velvet Cover — No Agreement — 
Tlie Plague — Hai'd for Luther to give the Hand of Union — Zwingli's Fears 235 

CHAPTER XXI. 

TAKING THE SWORD. 
The two great Parties — The Five Papal Cantons — Strength of the Protestants — 
Zwingli's Three Mistakes — Union sought in State rather than in Church — Five 
Cantons allied with Austria — Keyser a Martyr — Zurich Aroused — The two Par- 
ties in arms — Zwingli's Anxiety — ^Enemies eat out of same Dish — Good Order 
among the Protestants — No Blood shed — The Treaty of Cappol — Peace— Poetry. 251 

CHAPTER XXII. 

THE GOSPEL WEAPONS. 
Zwingli's Pen active — Gospel Aggression — Abbot Kilian Loses the Convent of St. 
Gall— The Monk of Como— Three Monks at Locarno — Diet of Augsburg— The 
Reformers meet at Zwingli's House— His Westward Tour — He Prepares for war. 265 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

THE LAND BLOCKADE OF THE FIVE CANTONS. 
A Wail of Sorrow — Famine and the Plague — What would Zwingli do? — Relent, 
Retire or take the Sword? — He offers his Resignation — Councils Refuse to Ac- 
cept it— Strange Omens — The great Comet — Presentiments 276 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

PERISHING WITH THE SWORD. 
Tlie Lad with the two Loaves — The Army of the Five Cantons Marching— Zurich 
to bo Invaded — ^The Battle begun — Councils Inactive— Treason — Army Gathered 
—Zwingli goes with it— The Respite— Almost a Peace— A new Attack— Zwingli's 



12 CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Address — Twenty-five Protestant Ministers are Killed — Zwingli Falls; is In- 
sulted, Slain and Purned — Thomas Plater — Myconios — Anna Zwingli's awful 
Grief— The Council Rouses — Berne and other Cantons send Troops — Francis 
Kolb — The Treaty of Peace — Papists win some old Ground — ^Thomas Plater and 
Myconius go to Basle 289 



CHAPTER XXV. 

THE SURVIVORS. 

Young Henry BuUinger — Childhood — Studies — Believes the New Testament — 
Visits Zwingli — Preaches at Bremgarten — Papists Drive him Thence — Death of 
(Ecolampadius — Bullinger the Successor of Zwingli — Adopts Zwingli's children 
— Labours Forty Years in Zurich — Intimate with Calvin — Death of Leo Juda 
and Vadian — Calvin's Sorrow — Locarnese Exiles at Zurich — Zwingli's Pear Tree. 307 



Ulrich Zwingli. 



CHAPTEEI. 

TME AGJE OF CONVBNTS. 

IT is a long way from Bangor in Ireland to Lake Constance 
in Switzerland. It must have been a weary road to travel 
nine hundred and fifty years ago. Yet in the year of our Lord 
610, there were two Irish missionaries journeying through the 
wild regions between the Swiss Lakes of Zurich and Constance, 
and seeking for a place where they might teach the Gospel to the 
heathen tribes that dwelt among the mountains. One of these 
was Columban,"^ brought up in the convent of Bangor. Sud- 
denly taken with a desire for foreign travel, he went into East- 
ern France, founded several convents, and was at length obliged 
to flee. He started for Ireland, but his vessel was driven back by 
a storm. He then resolved to go to the wild tribes of Switzer- 
land. The other missionary was Gallus, who had been the pupil 
and companion of Columban. He was a ''Scotchman of noble 



* Not Columba, who founded the great convent on the Scottish island 
of lona, from which went forth so many missionaries into Europe. lona 
was the seat of the Culdees, who went into heathen lands ^Mike bees from 
their hive.^* O'Donnell says, with a pun on the name of the great foun- 
der, which means a dove, " From the nest of Columba these sacred 
doves took their flight to all quarters." 

2 13 



14 UJ.IUCII ZWINGI.I. 

birth," for every Irishman was called a Scjt in those da^'s. 
There are many legends about these men, invented by the monks 
of later times ; perhaps what we now write of them is true his- 
tory. By following them a httle we may get some idea of what 
Switzerland was when Zwingli was born. 

Columban wished to bury himself in deeper solitudes than any 
he had yet found. He loved to wander in the woods and sit for 
days in a lonely place reading his book. He was not like an 
apostle, ever anxious to preach the gospel to as many pagans as 
he could reach. His idea was to be a hermit, and yet teach all 
who might gather about his lonely cell. He struck the Rhine at 
Mentz (Mayence), got a boat for himself and his followers, and 
set out up the river. Passing by the spot where Basle now 
stands, they worked their way into the river Aar, then into the 
Limmat, and halted not far from where Zurich is built. Then 
they went into Zug, and began their work. The natives gath- 
ered about them. Not far distant was a rude idol-temple. 
*' You must not worship idols," they said to the ancient Suevi ; 
'' God is in heaven. God is everywhere. But your idols are 
not gods. Your temple is not God' s house. You must destroy it. * ' 

*'Nay," said the people, horrified at the idea. '' We will not 
destroy it." They looked fiercely at the missionaries, asserting 
that they did not worship their rude idols, but their gods were 
Thor, Woden and the old Saxon deities. The religion of many 
of the ancient Swiss was doubtless that of the Druids. On some 
old houses is still seen the symbol called the ** Druid's foot," but 
no one knows its meaning. 

In a short time Columban found that the temple was in the 
way of the truth. He could not persuade the heathen Switzers 
that the true God was invisible. They would go to the idol- 
house, sing their wild songs, shout their doleful prayers, and 



THE AGE OF CONVENTS. 15 

engage in their rude sports. " The temple must come down," 
said he. Some of his companions or converts went and set it on 
fire, and threw the idols into the lake. The flames arose, and 
wrath burned in the hearts of the people. The missionaries 
liad not been wise in their zeal ; they were obliged to flee. 

Columban and his associates took their flight toward Lake 
Constance. It was a fearful journey over the mountains, 
through the deep forests, and among tribes of uncivilized men. 
They came at length to the castle of Arbon, near Lake Con- 
stance, where the ancients Romans once held their sway. They 
saw a man in the village, with a shorn head and a cross hanging 
upon his neck. " Who art thou?" inquired Gallus, who could 
speak ancient German better than the rest. 

' ' I am Willimar, the pastor of this place. I see by your 
habit that you are Christians, and Christian brethren are very 
rare in these parts. Whither do ye go?" 

'^We know not whither: anywhere that our Lord may lead 
us to teach the Gospel to the perishing. ' ' 

''Come in, ye blessed of the Lord," replied Willimar, who 
was overjoj^ed to have such brethren break his solitude and ac- 
cept his hospitality. He led them to his humble convent, 
where they passed seven days of happy fellowship with the 
priest of Arbon. 

"There is an ancient castle called Pregentia (Bregcntz) at the 
head of the lake," said Willimar to his guests, who inquired 
for a place to dwell. "Go there; the country is fruitful, the 
lake will supply you with fish, and the people are as sheep hav- 
ing no shepherd." 

"Farewell, good pastor," said the missionaries one morning; 
' ' we will build our Bethel in the desert. ' ' They went to Bre- 
gentz. They threw up a hut not far from the castle, where 



16 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

there were the ruins of an old church ; the}' made a garden ; they 
cast their nets into the lake ; they gave their fine fishes to the 
people, and the rude natives ceased to wonder and began to love. 
Charity opened the way for Christianity. Gallus preached to 
them in their own language, and they began to believe. The 
missionaries built a church, and for three years there were 
promises of success. But persecution came; Columban was 
obliged to leave. He went to Italy, and founded the monastery 
of Bobbio, near Pavia. 

Gallus was sick and could not follow his countryman and guide. 
With great grief he saw his father Columban depart ; he lingered 
until he could walk, and then took his boat and his net and went 
to Arbon, where Willimar gave him a kindly welcome. No 
sooner was Gallus recovered from his sickness and the sad 
thoughts of his failure, than he begged the deacon Hiltibad to 
to conduct him into the vast forest, that he might find a suitable 
place for a new hermitage. Hiltibad knew the paths among the 
mountains, for his business was to hunt and fish and supply the 
convent with provisions. But the deacon said, " You will be in 
constant danger ; the forest is full of bears and wolves. ' ' 

" If the Lord be for us, who can be against us?" replied Gal- 
lus. ''The God who delivered Daniel from the lions, is able to 
defend me." 

The deacon prepared for the perilous journey. Gallus spent 
a day in prayer and fasting. Early in the morning they set out, 
scarcely knowing whither they went. They grew weary. At 
three o'clock the deacon said, ''Let us rest a little and refresh 
ourselves. I have some bread here, and witli my not T will r-Afch 
fish from the brook." 

"Nay," answered Gallus; '*I will taste of nothing until a 
place of rest be found." 



THE AGE OF CONVENTS. 17 

They wandered on until the sun was setting, when they came 
to a spot where the river Steinacli, falling from the mountain, 
had hollowed out the rock, and where plenty of fishes were 
seen swimming in the stream. The deacon could not resist the 
temptation, and casting in his net he drew out an abundance that 
would have gratified the fishermen of Galilee. He then took 
his flint, struck a fire and prepared an inviting supper. In the 
meantime — the story runs — Gallus was kneeling in prayer among 
the bushes. Hearing the call of the deacon, he attempted to 
rise, when a thorn caused him to fall. Hiitibad saw him, and ran 
to his assistance. But Galhis said, "Let me alone; here is my 
resting-place ; here will I dwell. '' ' He consecrated the spot to 
God, arose, marked it by a cross made of a hazel-rod, and then 
yielded to the kindly attentions of the deacon. 

On this spot Gallus founded the monastery which afterward 
became celebrated and bore his name being called St. Gall. 
He lived many years in seclusion, drawing to him a band of 
brother monks. The ofier of a bishopric could not tempt him 
away ; he secured the ofiice for a native of the country whom he 
had trained at the convent. He laboured in his way for the con- 
version of the people until the year 640. Shortly before his 
death, he requested his old friend Willimar to meet him at the 
castle of Arbon. Feeble as he was, he summoned his last ener- 
gies and preached to the people assembled at the castle. His 
strength failed him ; he could not return to his convent, and he 
died at Arbon. He left behind him many followers who imi- 
tated his example, and who reared monasteries in those barbar- 
ous wilds. Other missionares followed, among whom were 
Thrudpert and Kilian, who preached to the Swiss and died mar- 
tyrs to their faith. For nearly three centuries Ireland and lona 
sent companies of learned and pious men into the countries along 



18 ULRICII ZWINGLT. 

the Rhine. These men did not at first acknowledge the bishop 
of Rome as their pope. They believed nothing of the doctrines 
of purgatory, image-worship, adoration of the saints, the mass, 
nor transiibstantiation. They were opposed and persecuted by 
the Romish clergy. The number of them who went into these 
foreign countries was so great that when the popish writers, 
long afterw^ard, could not learn the origin of certain saints, they 
set them down as having come from the Irish and Scottish 
Church. Mosheim says, "That the Irish [Scotch as well] were 
lovers of learning ; that they distinguished themselves, in these 
times of ignorance, by the culture of the sciences above all other 
nations, travelling through the most distant lands, is a fact with 
which I have been long acquainted. . . . The Irish were the 
first teachers of the scholastic theology in Europe." It may be 
claimed that Switzerland received the gospel mainly from the 
church of St. Patrick, who was anything but a Romanist. The 
authority of the pope was not acknowledged by him, nor by the an- 
cient Church of the Scots. Nor was it by the ancient Church 
of the Swiss, until convents turned missionaries into monks, and 
monks turned the gospel into fables, and these fables led the 
people to believe that the pope w^as the Vicar of Christ, and 
that Mary should be adored as the Virgin and as the guardian 
of the Church. 

It must be remembered that there were many errors in the 
teachings of such missionaries. At that time there was a passion 
for monkery. Christians built convents, and thought that they 
must become monks and nuns in order to serve God most faith- 
fully. Scores of men, like Gallus, went into the German part of 
Switzerland and founded churches and convents. They did not 
introduce Christianity in the purest form. Tlie errors they 
taught lived after them, growing worse and more numerous fur 



THE AGE OF CONVENTS. 19 

centuries, until there was little else than a religion of papal cer- 
emonies. The pioneer missionaries were remembered as great 
and holy men, and were exalted into '' saints," whom the people 
worshipped. Among others were St. Columban and St. Gallus. 
Perhaps deacon Hiltibad had such honors paid to his name. 
Centuries passed away ; the ages became very dark ; the pope at 
Rome ruled the Church, and still the monks went about found- 
ing convents. Those which were long called the " Scottish Clois- 
ters" were most celebrated for learning and piety. 

There were two hermits at St. Gall about the year 1050 who 
wished to imitate the founder of their monastery. We do not 
know their names, nor whether thej^ had any deacon to lead them 
into the Thurgovian forests. But St. Gall had grown too great 
and too much civilized for them, for the French kings had reared 
magnificent buildings, and princes had bestowed vast wealth 
upon the ancient abbey. Here was the asylum of learning dur- 
ing the Dark Ages, and this was the most celebrated school in 
Europe.^ Perhaps the two hermits were ambitious to found an- 
other St. Gall. They went southward and entered the valley of 
the Tockenburg, through which flows the little river Thur. All 
around them was nothing but Alpine grandeur and solitude. 
How could they expect that narrow valley ever to be filled with 
people ? They pushed on until they reached some of the springs 



* " Here the authors of Rome and Greece were not only read but copied; 
the writing^ of the moRks of St. Gall, that most invaluable accomplish- 
ment when printing had not yet enlightened the world, was exquisitely 
fine, and many possessed the sister art of embellishing their MSS. by il- 
lumination. . . . They reduced into the vulgar tongue many parts of the 
Bible, especially the Psalms, Canticles and Ecclesiastes. . . . Visitors from 
all countries, even England, Ireland and Scotland, brought their litera- 
ture to this mart of erudition." — Historical Pictures of the Middle Ages. 



20 UI.RICH ZWINGLI. 

of the river Thur, and there they built two cells and dwelt alone. 
By degrees other monks joined them. Then came people, indus- 
try and civilization. So wild had been their house that the 
place was called Wlldliaiis. Two hamlets, Schonenboden and 
Lisighaus (Elizabeth -house), now stand near the old convent. It 
is a barren spot, too high up in the cold v/inds for the fruits of 
the earth to grow. One may stand there and look upon the nar- 
• row green strip of a valley sloping down from his feet, or turn 
and gaze upon enormous masses of rock that rise around him 
' ' in savage grandeur to the skies. ' ' 

Thus went the Word of God to Wildhaus along with much of 
error and superstition. The Bible became less and less used, 
and more secretly hidden within convent walls. Popery rested 
like a cloud over Switzerland. The people needed to learn one 
thing : that was not to look to the convents for holiness, nor to 
Rome for light, but to the Word of the Lord and to Jesus 
Christ. A reformation was needed. It would come as soon as 
a native of Wildhaus should bring to light the hidden Bible. 
Obscure towns have often been the birth-place of illustrious 
men. 

Two facts should be borne in mind as we enter upon the his- 
tory of the Reformation under Zwingli. The first is the strength 
of Romanism in Switzerland. It had a castle in every convent; 
it had an army in every canton. The larger towns and the 
cities were the first to yield ; the wilder districts defended their 
superstitions to the last. It was ignorance that fortified popery. 

The second fact is the independence of the cantons. There 
was a union among those in which the German language ju'c- 
vailcd ; they had their confederacy. But yet each canton had 
a style of liberty peculiar to itself, and a fierce jealousy of its 
own rights. Some of them claimed to be indei)endent republics. 



THE AGE OF CONVENTS. 21 

When the reformed teachers and. preachers entered into a can- 
ton, it was easy for the priests to arouse the people by crying 
out that their Hberties were in danger, and that the Protestants 
wished to destroy their confederacy, founded by the heroes of 
Griitli and William Tell. 



CHAPTER II. 

TTTjItlCH, THE SHEPHJERD-BOT. 
(14.84.— 150G.) 

"VrOT far from the old church of Wildhcaus, and still nearer 
^^ to Lisighaus, on a path that leads to the pasture-grounds 
across the river, stands the cottage of a peasant. The story is 
that the trees of which it is built were felled on the very spot. 
It bears the marks of an ancient time. The timbers are black 
with age; the walls are thin; the windows are made of small, 
round panes of glass ; the roof is weighed down by stones to 
protect the shingles from the grasp of the storm. Just in front 
is a bubbhng spring, an emblem of the pure waters of eternal 
life. 

It is claimed that this is the house in which dwelt a man 
named Zwingli,* during the latter half of the fifteenth century. 
He was more than "an humble peasant" in the eyes of his 
neighbours, for he was of an ancient family and was highly es- 
teemed among the Alpine mountaineers. The parish of Wild- 
haus had long been under the control of St. Gall, whose abbot 
claimed it a^ his manor. But the peoi>le wrung their rights 
from his hands, and set up an independent community, having 
tlic i)ower to eUs-^t their own parish oflicers. They at once made 
Zwingli their ammann (head-man or bailiff), and chose liis 



* Pronounced Zirituj-Jij. 
22 



ULRICH, THE SHEPHERD-BOY. 23 

brother Bartholomew as their parson ; the latter was also dean 
of Wesen. 

Margaret Meili, the bailiff's wife, had the respect of the vil- 
lagers, reared her two sons, Henry and Nicholas, in the best way 
she knew, and often told them of their uncle John Meili, who 
became an abbot in Thurgovia. 

On New Year's day, 1484, a third son was born in the quiet 
cottage, just seven weeks after Luther came wailing into the 
world. Parson Bartholomew , came over from Wesen, baptized 
him, and fixed upon him the name of his father, Ulrich. One 
after another, five younger sons appeared in the family, and 
ninthly a daughter Anna ended the list. It was a happy house- 
hold. No Alpine bailiff seemed more content than Ulrich the 
elder. His good character, his official dignity and his numerous 
children made him the patriarch of the mountains. He was a 
shepherd, having meadows and alps of his own, and considering 
himself a guardian of the rights and liberties of the people. 

From time immemorial the dwellers at Wildhaus had been a 
simple, cheerful, song-loving race of shepherds. It was their 
custom in May to lead their flocks to the lower slopes of the 
mountains, and every lad that had his lamb went shouting after 
the herds of sheep and cattle, whose numberless bells were tink- 
ling forth the mirth of the morning. Little Ulrich might go to 
these lower pastures, but when the flocks went higher up Mount 
Sentis, he must linger nearer home, and direct his busy mind to 
studies in natural history. If we may judge that in the writings 
of his manhood he inserted some of the memories of his youth, 
we may imagine the thoughtful child searching for illustrations 
of "The Providence of God." He saw that the field-mouse 
had been wise enough to take care of itself and lay up its winter 
stores. Hidden behind some rock, he perhaps watched the 



24 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

porcupine making a fork of his quills and carrying to his nest a 
supply for the future. Or he saw the marmots running about, 
gathering together the softest grass, one making a wagon of the 
other ; this one lying on his back and throwing out his feet like 
a rack, while the others loaded him with hay, and then seizing 
his tail they dragged him and his load to their store-house. 
Meanwhile one marmot was posted on a high place as a sentinel, 
and if Ulrich laughed at their ingenuity or threatened them with 
danger, they made a hasty retreat to their homes. 

In midsummer the shepherds went far up the mountains, and 
the herds cropped the tender grass by the side of the glaciers. 
The hardier sons would remain there for days and weeks tending 
the flocks, but not forgotten by their parents nor unvisited by 
the young villagers. On a clear day the youth would form par- 
ties, start early and wind their way up into the fresh breezes, to 
meet the shepherd-boys, and spend hours among the crags, tak- 
ing with them baskets of provision for the herdsmen. As they 
went up they played their rustic instruments and sang the ranz 
des vaches; the shepherds welcomed them, from afar, with 
shouts and Alpine horns, and when the parties met they engaged 
in innocent glee, clambering the peaks and frightening the 
chamois that grazed in the gorges. We may imagine young 
Ulrich among them, watching a lamb that ventures upon more 
liberty, leaves the flock and strays away, hidden, at length, by 
some jutting crag. He sees the movement, hastes with nimble 
feet, climbs over the rocks, and drives back the wanderer, whose 
bell tinkles so fast that it inspires the company with new laugh- 
ter. But the lad lingers out of sight. Is the child of nine 
years lost? He is watching the eagle that had an eye upon his 
lamb. He is gazing devoutly at the peaks that seem everlasting, 
and appear as the stepping-places into the skies, where God 



ULRICH, THE SHEPHERD-BOY. 25 

dwelleth. He is getting other illustrations for a work on *'The 
Providence of God," which he will write at a future day. One 
of his friends said afterward: *'I have often thought from 
these sublime heights, which stretch upward toward heaven, he 
took something heavenly and divine." 

Thus passed the summers. The winter evenings were long in 
his father's house. Books were rare, and Ulrich could not often 
sit in the chimney-corner and read by the light of the fire. If 
the wiser men dropped in to talk of politics, he wished himself 
in some of the neighbouring hamlets, where the dreary time was 
lightened by the joyous voice of song or the merry tones of such 
instruments as were skilfully played in almost every cottage. But 
the lad did not always find the conversation dry and somnific. 
The leading men of the parish often rehearsed the legends of the 
ancient times, and St. Gall seemed a giant. They told how 
their forefathers groaned under the heavy yoke of counts and 
abbots who held rule over them. "But did not the Tocken- 
burgers conquer the Zurichers and gain their independence?" 
little Ulrich would ask. 

" Indeed they did," one of the elders would reply, in boastful 
tone. ' ' They did it easily ; there is no such a people as the 
Tockenburgers anywhere among the lakes. I remember the 
year — it was 1469 — for I was wounded then. But I pushed on 
and laid low a Zurich captain, and that turned the tide of bat- 
tle." The company smiled, for this hero was not usually men- 
tioned with so much honour except when he was telling his own 
story. 

Ulrich often heard such men tell how their native valley of the 
Tockenburg had gained more and more freedom, and the love of 
country was kindled in his heart. He felt patriotic for Switzer- 
land ; if any one of them dropped a word unfavourable to lib- 
3 



26 ULllICH ZWINGLI. 

erty, he took up the cause and wainily defended it. The boy 
also often hung upon the Hps of his grandmother, as she re- 
peated legendary tales and biblical stories. She had treasured 
up some knowledge of the Holy Word, which had been sq beau- 
tifully copied by the monks of St. Gall, and brought by the two 
hermits to Wildhaus. Had she been free from all Romish 
errors, she might have proved another grandmother Lois teach- 
ing a Swiss Timothy the Scriptures of truth. 

The kind bailiff was delighted with the promising mind of his 
third son. His two clerical uncles urged his parents to train up 
little Ulrich for a priest, and they began to think that he might 
do something better than tend herds on Mount Sentis. One 
morning, when he was nine or ten years old, his father took him 
by the hand and started for Wesen. They went panting up the 
Gulmen, and from the green heights the lad might have looked 
down on the valley of Glaris, the forests of Einsidlen and the 
lake of Zurich, without dreaming that in those districts he was 
some time to wage a warfare for the truth of God. But his eyes 
were fixed upon the little silvery lake of Wallenstadt, and he 
wished himself at the lower end of it, sitting at his uncle's din- 
ner-table. After a journey of eight or ten hours they entered 
the house of Bartholomew Zwingli, the dean of Wesen. '' You 
have put lofty ideas into Ulrich' s head," said the father to his 
brother, ''and now I have brought him, so that you may try 
what he can do. ' ' 

"Bight gladly will I measure liiin, answered the dean. "So, 
Ulrich, you will be as a son to your uncle." Thus the lad was 
left with one who loved him and took delight in his quick mind, 
cheerful heart and firm adherence to truth. Ulrich was sent to 
school, where he soon learned all that the village schoolmaster 
could teach. This will not appear wonderful if we remember 



ULRICH, THE SHEPHERD-BOY. 27 

that the common schoohiiaster was anything but a prodigy in 
learning. 

A class of poor and often lazy men roamed about teaching, for 
a pittance, the - merest elements of an education. Two well- 
painted placards, of the olden time, preserved at Basle, show us 
what these strolling masters assumed to teach. Each represents 
a school-room. In one, the children are sitting or kneeling on 
the floor with their books, while the teacher is ready to adminis- 
ter the rod if the boy at his desk does not recite well. In the 
other are older scholars. The following advertisement is written 
under both : 

** Whosoever wishes to learn to write and read in German, in 
the quickest way ever found out, though he does not know a sin- 
gle letter of the alphabet, can in a short time get enough here to 
cast up his own accounts and read ; and if any one be too stupid 
to learn, as I have taught him nothing, so will I charge him 
nothing, be he who he may, burgher or apprentice, woman or 
girl. Whoever comes in he will be faithfully taught for a small 
sum, but the young boys and girls after the Ember weeks, as the 
custom is" (1516.) 

Children and adults often sat upon the same bench. There 
was nothing like a division into classes ; each did the best he 
could in his own way. The rod was one of the persuasives to 
study. In the better Latin schools one rule was, *^The school- 
master shall beat the pupils with rods, and not with his fist or 
staff, and particularly not on the head, lest, on account of their 
youth, he might thereby do great damage to the memory." For 
a long time a yearly holiday was kept, under the name of "The 
Procession of the Rods." The pupils went out in summer to 
the woods, and came back with large bundles of birch-twigs, 
cracking jokes and singing— 



28 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

Ye fathers and yc mothers good. 
See us with the birchen wood 
Loaded, coming home again : 
Use it for our moral gain, 
Not for injury or pain. 
Your command and that of God 
Prompt us now to bear the rod 

On our bodies thus to-day ; 
Not in angry, sullen mood, 

But with spirits glad and gay. 

Not unlike this were the common schools in the Swiss valleys. 
In larger towns a priest was usually the teacher, having a small 
salary and the gift of a coat once a year. Sometimes they were 
allowed what their pupils could beg for them. The poor scholars 
did the begging, going through the streets and singing under the 
windows. The school at Wesen was perhaps of this latter grade. 
It seems that Ulrich came in contact with boys who were guilty 
of deceptions and lies. He felt a great horror of falsehood. He 
tells us that one day the thought occurred to him *'that lying 
ought to be more severely punished than theft. Hypocrisy is 
worse than stealing. Falsehood is the beginning of all evil. 
Man most resembles Uod by being true. Glorious is the truth, 
full of majesty, commanding even the respect of the wicked." 

** Wesen can do no more for the lad," thought his uncle. 
'*He must go to Basle." To this the father agreed. It 
seemed a long journey over the mountains, but the dean's friend, 
George Binzli, was at Basle, as the master of St. Theodore's 
school. This teacher took the child of the Tockenburg to his 
warm heart, and so helped him forward that the boy soon got 
beyond the man in knowledge. It was the fashion for the young 
students to imitate the learned doctors in holding disputations. 



ULRICH, THE SHEPHERD-BOY. 29 

In these debating clubs young Zwingli excelled his classmates, 
lie was the champion who won the victory. His older rivals 
grew jealous of him. On a small scale he was meeting with 
what would try his talents and temper at a later day. He out- 
grew the school at Basle, as he had that of Wesen. 

' ' Send him to Berne, ' ' said his uncle Bartholomew, and 
thither he was sent, at the age of thirteen, to wonder at its fond- 
ness for petted bears and to find out that he was a poet. Henry 
Lupulus (Littlewolf) was there teaching the dead languages 
with great credit to himself. He had opened the first academy 
of learned languages in Switzerland. He had travelled in the 
East, had seen the Holy Sepulchre, had spoken Greek in Athens 
and witnessed the papal corruptions of Bome. History was at 
his tongue's end, and poetry dropped from his graceful pen. 
Ulricli found in his school a new world. He read the classics, 
admired the Boman orators and imitated the Latin poets. He 
came in contact with the monks and their style of religious 
life. 

All Switzerland was talking of a man who had won the place 
of a saint in the minds of the people. He was Nicholas von der 
Flue, who had been a soldier in the field, an adviser in council, 
and at the age of fifty a hermit in the valley of Melchthal, where 
he dwelt in his lowly cell and passed his time in the exercises of 
piety. In 1481 the Swiss cantons were at strife, and war was 
threatened. The wise men assembled, but only made matters 
worse by angry debate. Some of them sought the advice of the 
hermit. He went to Stanz, suddenly appeared in the Diet, ad- 
dressed the wrathful councillors as a father, and secured peace. 
The union of the cantons was preserved, and he was honoured 
throughout the whole land as one whose wisdom was almost 
superhuman. He died six years after, and Henry Lupulus sang 



30 ULRICH ZWIKGLI. 

the life of the pious hermit with enthusiasm. To this day 
crowds of pilgrims visit and pay their vows at his shrine. 

But the monks of Berne were altogether different from the 
hermit Nicholas. The Franciscans were quarrelling with the 
Dominicans ; each rivalled the other in tricks and delusions, and 
both sought to win young men into their convent. The Domin- 
icans particularly noticed Zwingli. They were charmed with his 
fine appearance, his voice of song and his musical skill. They 
heard of his ready wit, his large mind, his noble spirit and his 
ardent love of knowledge. He might become a brilliant orna- 
ment of their order. They attracted him into their convent, and 
by their crafty arts almost persuaded him to live with them until 
he should become old enough to take the vows of a monk. But 
he was too honest to take any step without asking advice. It 
seems that he talked with his teacher and wrote to his father on 
the subject. They took alarm, and parson Bartholomew joined 
them in recalling Ulrich speedily from Berne, to send him to 
Vienna in Austria. 

At the high school in A^ienna were two young men, on whose 
brows the Emjieror would one day place the poetic wreath, and 
whom all Switzerland would honour as eminent scholars. One 
of them was Joachim von Watt, or Vadian, the son of a rich 
merchant of St. Gall : the other was Henry Lorcti, the son of a 
poor peasant of the canton of Glaris, and who took the name of 
Glarean. They gave a hearty welcome to' young Zwingli, and 
these three Swiss students indulged in i)octry, music, the classics 
and scientific studies, formed a lasting friendship, and prepared 
to work unitedly in a great reforlnation. They admitt^jd to their 
circle two Swabian youths, who were to become the enemies of 
their doctrines at a future day. One of these was John Heiger- 
lin, called Faber because he was the son of a smith ; he was a 



ULRICH, THE SHEPHERD-BOY. 31 

man o€ pliant character, proud of honours, ambitious for renown, 
and fitted to become a courtier rather than a scholar. The 
other was John 3Ieyer of Eck, a man who read much, forgot lit- 
tle, spoke with eloquence and won friends by the liveliness of his 
genius. He became the greatest theologian of the Roman 
Church in Germany, and entered the lists against Luther as 
Doctor Eck. With such students young Zwingli mingled during 
his two years' stay at Vienna. In 1502 he returned to Wildhaus, 
but his native mountains did not satisfy him. He had tasted the 
waters of learning, and he could not be content to live among the 
songs of his brothers and the lowing of their herds. Grod had 
another purpose concerning him. 

He went again to Basle, taught in St. Martin's school and 
studied in the university, earning enough to pay his way, so that 
he drew no longer upon his father's slender purse or his uncle 
Bartholomew's generosity. Wolfgang Capito became his warm- 
est friend, and was struck with the wit and music of the student 
of the Sentis mountains ; for when Ulrich was weary of his 
studies in scholastic divinity, he took up one of his numerous 
musical instrments and made his room ring with the tunes of his 
native land or sang the songs of the Swiss warriors. In his 
love for music he was quite equal to Luther. If any think this 
a weakness, let him remember David and his Hebrew harp. 
There was not an instrument of which Zwingli could not soon 
make himself master. His enthusiasm for the art was conta- 
gious ; he imparted a taste for it throughout the universitj^ 
But he did not waste time upon it, for, having relaxed his mind, 
he returned to his studies with the greater zeal. The theology 
of the schools and the monks disgusted him : it was full of use- 
less questions and trifling answers ; a medley of confused ideas, 
empty babbling and barbarism, without one grain of sound doc- 



32 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

trine. ^' It is a mere loss of time to stud}^ it," said he, jtiid he 
waited for something better to appear. The Lord, who had led 
him hitherto, was bringing the right teacher. 

In the town of Bienne, on a little lake at the base of the Jura 
Mountains, lived a burgomaster who liad educated his son 
Thomas with great care. The young man had gone farther than 
most students of his time, and made himself familiar with the 
Hol}^ Scriptures while he studied under the celebrated Eeuchlin. 
The world was beginning to hear of Thomas Wittcmbach when 
he came to Basle, in 1505, and opened a course of lectures. 
The students flocked to his classes. He spoke with life, and 
some of his words were prophetic. "Tlie time is not far dis- 
tant," said he, "when the old scholastic theolog}^ will be swept 
away, and the ancient doctrines of the Church be revived.^ 
God's word is the foundation of all truth. Absolution by priests 
is a Romish cheat. Christ's death is the only ransom for our 
souls." The good seed fell into the soft heart of j^oung Zwingli. 
A new path was pointed out as the true way of life ; he and his 
friend Capito rushed into it. 

Among the students was a young man of twentj^-three, small 
in stature, pale and sickly, but gentle in his manners and in- 
trepid in spirit. Zwingli found him to be Leo Juda, the son of a 
married parish iiriest in Alsace, and the nephew of a hero, who 
died at Rhodes fighting against the Turks. Leo was fond of 
music, had a fine voice and played the dulcimer with skill. Love 
of song and of truth united him and Zwingli in friendship for 
life. Often did they spend an hour in singing together, and no 
doubt rehearsing the new doctrines boldly proclaimed by Wit- 
tcmbach or recorded for their eyes in the Book of God. But 
they were not to be long in fellowship at Basle. Soon the hour 
was struck when they must part, until with stronger powers they 



ULRICH, THE SHEPHERD-BOY. 33 

should meet again to urge on the cause of the Reformation. 
Leo went to his native province and settled as the parson of St. 
Pilt. 

In later years Leo wrote of Wittembach : *' Zwingli and I en- 
joyed his instructions at Basle in 1505. Under his guidance we 
passed from polite literature, in which he was fully at home, 
over to the more earnest study of the Holy Scriptures. . . . 
Whatever of thorough knowledge we possess we owe it to him , 
and must remain his debtors as long as we live. ' ' 

Zwingli had conferred upon him the title of Master of Arts, 
but he never made use of the degree. He used to say, " One is 
our Master, even Christ. ' ' A call was preparing for him. 



^(^^^^)^ 



CHAPTER III. 

THE YOUNG J*ASTOR OF GLAJtTS. 
(ISOO-ISIO.) 

IT was known among the priests who sought fat livings that a 
pastor was wanted at Glaris,* a small town in a rich val- 
ley that in our day sends some of its celebrated cheese to Amer- 
ica. Henry Goldli, one of the pope's young courtiers, and his 
Master of Horse, sought the living, that he might add it to sev- 
eral other benefices held by him, and thus, with all his offices, he 
Uiight have revenues enough to enable liim to live at Rome with 
greater comfort to himself As for the x\lpine people, he did not 
think of dwelling and ineaching among them. The pope granted 
him the incumbency. 

But the shepherds and cheese-makers of the valley had a will 
and a choice of their own. Proud of the antiquity of their 
race, and loving the freedom that had cost them so many strug- 
gles, they were not willing to receive a pastor who could show 
them nothing but a slij> of parchment bearing the name of the 
pope. His aristocratic blood and lofty pretensions did not in- 



* The use of slatcR in fchoola is one of the great diacoverief. It is re- 
lated that in the eixtccnlh century certain poor people of this canton 
gathered some of the smooth atonefl of their valley and sold them. One 
framed a piece and uBed it for keeping h\» accounts. Others began to 
write upon Flate«. A trade Fprang uji, and Swiss flates became knoivn 
throughout the civilized world. 
34 



THE YOUNG PASTOR OF CLARIS. 35 

crease tlieir respect. In some way they heard of young Zwingli. 
Perhaps Glarean told them of his fellow-student at Vienna, or 
parson Bartholomew may have met some of them at Wesen, 
where they went to market, and spoken of his truth-loving 
nephew. They chose Ulrich Zwingli, and he accepted their call. 
He had humble thoughts of himself. " God has granted me," 
said he, " fi'om my boyhood to devote myself to the acquirement 
of knowledge, both human and divine. ... I acknowledge my- 
self to be a great sinner before God, though I have not lived an 
immoral life, and on no occasion has discipline been exercised 
upon me." 

He went to Constance to be ordained a priest, preached his 
first sermon at Rappersw^^l, on the lake of Zurich, read the mass 
for the first time at Wildhaus on St. Michael's day, in the pres- 
ence of his relatives, and set out for Glaris. It was the year 
1506, when he was twenty-two years of age. The people were 
waiting for their new parson. But lo ! there was trouble. 
Henry Goldli showed his parchment, and insisted on being their 
priest and receiving all the revenues. The intruder would not 
yield until Zwingli paid him a sum of money for renouncing 
claims that were totally groundless. Such was one of the abuses 
under which the people groaned in that age, and which opened 
their eyes to the need of reform. 

The young pastor applied himself with zeal to the duties of 
his large parish, visiting the cottages in the one rich valley and 
the poorer hamlets on the mountain slopes. He had charge of 
nearly one-third of the canton of Glaris. He was then a Romish 
priest, not much different from the best of the surrounding 
clergy. He was free from all those scandals which disgraced the 
Church of his day, and sought to hold firmly to one noble res- 
olution : " I will be true and upright before God in every situa- 



36 UI.RICH ZWINGLI. 

tion of life in which the hand of the Lord may place me.'^ His 
later friend, Myconius, says of him : '* He became a priest and de- 
voted himself to the search after divine truth with all his heart, 
for he was well aware how much he must know to whom the 
flock of Christ is entrusted." 

But he was pained to find such a contrast between the purity 
of the gospel and the corrupt lives of the people. They were 
grossly licentious in their manners, even with all their simplicity 
and good-nature. The Swiss in those days were reputed to 
have as little respect for the seventh commandment as the Ital- 
ians in their most profligate cities. The brave soldiers, hired to 
fight for those who would pay them the most gold, learned bad 
habits abroad, and returned to lead an idle and dissipated Ufe at 
hoi 1 1 The clergy could not always reprove them, for "like peo- 
ple, like priest." The monks and the nuns often illustrated and 
increased the depravitj^ No priest was allowed to marry, and 
yet it would have been difiicult to find one who lived in a real 
state of celibacy. There were some priests in the Alpine regions 
who were secretly married, and reared families in the fear of 
God. Zwingli then had work enough to do in setting forth a 
lioly example and in boldly correcting the sins of the people. 
When tempted, he turned to God with tears and prayers, and 
laid hold of the strength of the mighty Jehovah. 

To get the truth he went directly to the sacred fountains of 
the Bible. He drank the "waters of Siloa that go softly." 
He knew the Scriptures only in the Latin version, for there was, 
as yet, no translation into German-Swiss, but his fellow-priests 
thought him profoundly learned in the Bible, of which they 
knew almost nothing. He paid great attention to the graces of 
public speaking. He studied the classics that he might acquire 
the elegancies of oratory. He read oft^n the masterpieces of 



THE YOUNG PASTOR OF GLARIS. 37 

eloquence. But all this was in vain unless the love of Christ 
was shed abroad in his heart. 

One of his labours in the parish was the training of the youth. 
He founded a Latin school at Glaris, and gathered into it a band 
of young men from the first families of the land. He taught 
them what he could, and then sent them to Basle, where his 
friend Glarean taught the high school, boarding the students in 
Ills own house, so that he might watch over their morals ; or 
they were sent to Vienna, where Vadian was the rector of an 
academy. But wherever they went they bore engraved on their 
heart the memory of their first master, and kept with him an 
unbroken correspondence. 

" Thou art to us Kke a guardian angel," wrote Peter Tschudi 
from Paris, whose brother Egidius also wrote, "Help, help me, 
that I may be recalled to thee, for nowhere do I like so well to 
live as near thyself" The Tschudis were a family of heroes, 
whose fathers had been warriors terrible to the hosts of Charles 
the Bold of Burgundy. Valentine, a cousin of the two just 
quoted, wrote to Zwingli: "You have oficred me, not only books, 
but your very self. I have found no one who could explain the 
classic authors with such skill and clearness as yourself. Can I 
ever cease to be grateful to you for the great benefits you con- 
ferred upon me ? On every occasion that I returned home, and 
lately, especially, when I was suffering four days from a fever, 
you were ready to do me any service. The whole benevolence of 
your soul overflowed to me. ' ' At Paris this young man com- 
pared the spirit that prevailed in its university with that which 
he had found in his own narrow valley, and he said, "In what 
frivolities do they educate the French youth! No poison can 
equal the sophistical art that they are taught. It dulls the senses, 

weakens the judgment, brutalizes the man and makes him a mere 
4 



38 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

echo, an empty sound. Ten women could not make head against 
one of these rhetoricians. Even in their prayers, I am certain 
they bring their sophisms before God, and by their syllogisms 
presume to constrain the Holy Spirit to answer them. ' ' 

Zwingli had reason to think that his school was doing some good 
in the world. He was elevating the standard of education. Eras- 
mus, the sage of llotterdam, who then was the monarch in the 
literary world, wrote to him saying, "All hail! say I to the 
Swiss people, whom I have always admired, whose intellectual 
and moral qualities you, and men like you, are training.'' 

There was at Friburg a certain judge Falk, a strong papist and 
active politician of that period, who was a patron of the liberal 
studies. He offered to let Zwingli dwell in his country-seat near 
Pavia, Italy, enjoy all its revenues for two years, and have a 
charming retreat where he could indulge his literary tastes. But 
Zwingli declined the offer. Perhaps he suspected that the de- 
sign was to win him over to the Eomish cause. Temptations of 
this sort were frequent in his experience. 

The young pastor still watched over the souls of men with 
fidelity. He wrote afterward of this period : " Young as I was, 
the office of the priesthood filled me with greater fear than joy, 
for this was ever present to me, that the blood of the sheep, 
who perished through any neglect or guilt of mine, would be re- 
quired at my hands." 



c^e^v 



z'^;^ 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE TAMSON TJEMPTJED TO WAM, 
(1510-1516.) 

A POOR herd-boy, named Matthew Schinner, who attended 
the school at Sion in French Switzerland, was singing one 
day in the streets for his bread, when an old man called him by 
name. They talked a little, and the lad gave such wise answers 
that the aged man said to him, with that prophetic tone which 
those seem to have who are on the brink of the grave, "Thou 
shalt become a bishop and a prince." 

The beggar-boy was pleased with the prophecy, and from that 
hour a boundless ambition entered his soul. He went to Zurich 
and to Como, spake the German and Italian of each place, and 
displayed such wonderful powers of mind that he astonished and 
outstripped his masters. He became the priest of a small parish 
in his native Yalais, rose rapidly and dreamed of higher promo- 
tions. A man had been elected as the bishop of Sion, but some 
one must go to Rome and obtain the pope's confirmation. Mat- 
thew was sent, but with a tricky heart he asked the appoint- 
ment for himself, and the pope granted it, so that the messenger 
went home as the bishop of Sion. When Louis XII. of France 
was at war with Pope Julius II., this bishop knew that each 
party would be glad to employ the Swiss in his service. He 
offered himself to Louis and named his price. 

" It is too much for one man," said the king. 

39 



4C ULKICH ZWINGLI. 

*'I will show him/' replied the exasperated bishop, *'that I 
alone am worth many men." He then turned to Pope Julius, 
who heartily welcomed him. In 1510 the bishop succeeded in 
attaching the entire Swiss confederation to the side of the war- 
like pontiif. ^ Schinner received a cardinal's hat, and smiled as 
he saw that there was but one step more between him and the 
papal throne. 

The new cardinal cast his eyes over all the cantons of Switzer- 
land, and wherever he saw a man of influence he hastened to 
win him to himself The pastor of Glaris drew his attention, 
and he prepared the glittering bait. Zwingli had been too poor 
to buy the books he wanted : the money paid to Henry Goldli 
had made him still poorer, and besides he had been generous to 
his students. All at once he was informed that the pope had set 
apart an annual sum of fifty florins for him, so that he might 
freely pursue his studies. He accepted it without suspicion for 
a time, and devoted it entirely to the purchase of classical and 
theological books. The crafty cardinal softly told him that, in 
return for this favour, he could not do less than lend his talents 
and energies to the cause of the pope, whom Zwingli still re- 
garded as the vicar of Christ. 

Cardinal Schinner by his eloquence, the payment of a little 
gold and the promises of large i)lunder, raised eight thousand ^ 
Swiss soldiers, and sent them over the Alps into Italy, but they 
soon found themseves out of rations and almost perishing. The 
Frencli conquered them by arms and bought them with money, 
so that they returned ingloriously to their mountains. They car- 
ried back with them all the vices they had acquired — distrust, vio- 
lence, party si)irit ami disorders of every kind. Citizens refused 
to obey their magistrates; children grew insolent to tlieir 
parents ; parishioners mocked their priests; shepherds neglected 



THE PAESON TEMPTED TO WAR. 41 

their flocks and herds ; farmers let their lands run to weeds ; lux- 
ur}^ increased the vices of one class and beggary those of another ; 
the holiest ties were broken and the confederation seemed upon 
the verge of ruin. 

The young priest of Glaris opened his eyes and uttered his in- 
dignation. His silence could not be bought with golden bribes. 
He lifted his powerful voice to warn the people. In 1510 he 
wrote his poem entitled The Labyrinth. Within the mazes of a 
mysterious garden, Minos has concealed the Minotaur, that mon- 
ster, half-man, half-bull, who feeds upon the bodies of the young 
people. Perhaps the garden was the alliance with Rome, and 
Minos was the pope. But he sa3\s plainly : "This Minotaur rep- 
resents the sins, the vices, the irreligion, the foreign service of 
the Swiss, devouring the sons of the nation." A bold man, 
Theseus, appears and overcomes all enemies, slays the monster 
and sav^s his country. 

"In like manner," says the poet-priest, " are men now wan- 
dering in a labyrinth, but as they have no clue to its mazes, they 
cannot regain the light nor find the way out of it. Nowhere do 
w^e find an imitation of Christ. A little glory leads us to risk 
our lives, torment our neighbour and rush into disputes, war 
and battle. One might imagine that the furies had broken 
loose from the abyss of hell. ' ' A Theseus in the person of a re- 
former was needed. 

Such poems deserve notice simply as the effusions of a man 
whose pen could write nobler things. In his zeal to remove cer- 
tain great political evils, he wrote " A poetic fable concerning an 
ox and other beasts. ' ' It winds up with the following : 

*' Where bribery can show its face, 

There freedom has no dwelling-place. . . . 
4* 



42 ULRICn ZWINGLT. 

Freedom must stand by bravery, 

Sheltered and guarded evermore. 

Amid the bloody ranks of war. 

Amid the fearful dance of death, 

Let gleaming swords drawn from the sheath. 

And spears and battle-axes, be 

Thy guardians, golden Liberty ! 

But where a brutish heart is met 

And by a tempting bribe beset. 

There noble freedom, glorious boon ! 

And name and blood of friends too soon 

Are cheaply prized; and rudely torn 

Are oaths in holy covenant sworn." 

In April, 1512, the Swiss confederates were again persuaded 
by Cardinal Schinner to enter the service of the pojie for the 
defence of Italy and the Church. Glaris was in the foremost 
rank, eager to drive the French out of Lombardy. As the ban- 
ner of his own canton was unfurled, Zwingli felt that his par- 
ishioners, who were in the army, needed a chaj)lain and guardian. 
Scarcely was there an able-bodied man in his parish who did not 
enlist. He felt compelled to march with them. According to 
an old custo'))* the magistrates appointed him to follow the army 
as a field-preacher. He must carry arms. Twenty thousand 
Swiss crossed the Alps wearing a white cross, and bearing a 
standard on which were the words, in letters of gold, "The 
tamers of princes, the lovers of justice and the defenders of the 
holy Roman Church.'* Cardinel Schinner sent them two rich 
presents from the pope : one was a red silk hat decorated with 
gold and pearls, so as to represent the descent of the Holy 
(J host ; the otlu^r was a golden sword adorned with costly gems. 
T\\v |)ope said that these emblems signified the bles^ng of (lod 
upon (licir amis, but the soMiers were likely to interpret *liem 



THE PARSON TEMPTED TO WAR. 43 

as meaning that the ''holy father" would pay them well. The 
Swiss scaled the walls of cities and fortresses, and before the eyes 
of their enemies swam rivers with their halberds in their hands. 
The French were defeated at every point, and swept out of Lom- 
biirdy. The people crowded from all quarters to thank the vic- 
tors ; the nobles made them liberal gifts of fruits and wine ; 
monks and priests mounted the pulpits and praised the Swiss as 
the people of God, and the pope conferred on them the title of 
the "Defenders of the liberty of the Church." It is stated by 
some writers that the red hat and golden sword were presented 
to them through Zwingli after their victory, with the papal 
promise, "Let them ask what they will — the holiest shall not be 
denied them." Some of the more devout among them begged 
the permission to have painted on their banners the image of the 
crucified Redeemer ; the men of Griaris wished to carry that of 
the risen .Saviour. 

On his return to Griaris, Zwingli applied himself to hard study. 
"I gave my labour to the Greek language, so that I might be 
able to draw the doctrines of Christ from the fountain of truth. 
I am resolved," he wrote to Vadian, "that no one shall turn me 
from it, except God ; I do it not for glory, but for the love of 
sacred learning." He read the Fathers without any blinding 
reverence for them, but "just as one asks a friend what he 
means." But the ancient doctors did not satisfy him. He 
prayed for the Spirit to lead him into all truth. The New Tes- 
tament in its original tongue became his study and his peculiar 
delight. He compared Scripture with Scripture, saying, "I 
must neglect all these matters [of mere human reason] , and look 
for God's will in his word alone. I began earnestly to entreat 
the Lord to give me his light; and although I read the Scriptures 
only, they became clearer to me than if I had read all the com- 



44 UT.RICH ZWINGLI. 

mentators." The deeper he sank his shaft into this mine, the 
farther he got away from the doctrines of Rome, and he began 
to see their error. The study of the Greek Testament was at the 
basis of the Reformation. 

" Zwingli's course was slow but progressive," saysD'Aubigne. 
"He did not arrive at the truth, like Luther, by those storms 
which impel the soul to run hastily into its harbour of refuge : 
he reached it by the peaceful influence of Scripture, whose 
power expands gradually in the heart. Luther attained the 
wished-for shore through the storms of the wide ocean ; Zwingli 
by gliding gently down the stream. These are the two principal 
ways by which men are led by the Almighty. Zwingli was not 
fully converted to God and to his gospel until the earlier yesrs 
of his residence at Zurich; yet the moment when, in 1514 or 
1515, this strong man bent the knee to God in praj-er for the un- 
derstanding of his word, was that in which appeared • the first 
glimmering of the rays of the bright day that afterward beamed 
upon him." 

About this time his eye fell upon a poem of Erasmus, in which 
Jesus Christ is represented as addressing mankind, perishing 
through their own fault, and complaining that men do not seek 
grace from Him who is the source of all that is good. '*The 
source of all good?'' repeated Zwingli, shut up in his room ; **3^es, 
ALL. Why then go elsewhere ? are there any creatures or saints 
of whom to ask aid? No, Christ is our only treasury of 
grace. ' ' 

Every book that came from the pen of Erasmus, Zwingli has- 
tened to purchase. He was delighted when the ** prince of let- 
ters" went to Ba.sle in 1514, where the bishop received him 
with every mark of esteem, and all the friends of learning 
gathered around him. Zwingli felt that he must visit him. On 



THE PARSON TEMPTED TO WAK. 45 

arriving in the city, he found there a small man about forty years 
of age, of delicate frame and exceedingly amiable. It was 
Erasmus, not yet crossed by Luther and angered because the 
Reformation was going farther than he had intended. His pol- 
ished manners soon won the priest of Glaris, who at first trem- 
bled with timidity in the presence of the great genius. " I give 
you myself," said the sage, and they talked of the times, the 
revival of learning and the restoration of the pure Scriptures to 
the Church. 

As Zwingli mingled with the scholars who formed a literary 
court about Erasmus, and was introduced to them by his friend 
Grlarean, he was charmed with a young man from Lucerne 
named Oswald Geisshausler, to whom Erasmus gave the softer 
Greek name of Myconius. He must be distinguished from 
Frederick Myconius, the disciple of Luther. Oswald was rector 
of St. Peter's school in Basle. He had married a wife of an 
admirable disposition, and he was living as hospitably as his 
scanty income could afford. The returned soldiers made an ex- 
ample of their rough campaigning habits at his house. On a 
dark wintry day some of these ruffians attacked his quiet dwell- 
ing in his absence. They knocked at the door, threw stones, 
used the most indecent language to his modest wife, dashed in 
the windows, entered the school-room, broke everything they 
could and then retired. Little Felix saw his father coming 
shortly after, ran to meet him with loud cries, and his wife, un- 
able to speak from fright, made signs of the desolation. Oswald 
saw it all, and his blood boiled. Just then the soldiers were 
heard in the streets, and seizing a weapon the schoolmaster pur- 
sued the rioters to the cemetery. They took refuge within it 
and prepared to defend themselves. Three of them fell upon 
Myconius and wounded him. He went home, and while his 



46 TJLRICIT ZAYINGLI. 

wound was being dressed, the wretches again broke into his 
house with furious cries. Oswald says no more. Such scenes as 
this were not rare in Switzerland before the Reformation sub- 
dued the roughness of the people. 

The schoolmaster of Basle and the parson of Glaris perceived 
each other's abilities, but neither coveted praise. "I look upon 
you schoolmasters as the peers of kings," said Erasmus. But 
Oswald replied, " I do but crawl on the earth: from my child- 
hood there has been something humble and mean about me.'* 
All were ready to say of Zwingli, "He will yet be the glory of 
Switzerland." But the many friends of the gospel at Basle did 
not spend their time in studying and admiring each other. They 
improved the privilege of hearing an eloquent preacher, whom 
we must not pass with neglect. 

A child was born the year before Zwingli, in Franconia, of 
rich parents, and named John Hausshein, "the house-light.^' 
His pious mother consecrated to learning and to God the only 
child that Providence had left her. His father at first des- 
tined him to business and then to law, sending him to the re- 
nowned university at Bologna. But when John returned the 
Lord touched his heart and inclined him to study theology. He 
entered the ministry, preached in his native town, and by the in- 
fluence of Capito received the appointment of preacher at Basle. 
Already had he translated his name into (Ecolampadius, and 
truly, as the name signifies, he was "the light of the house" 
when he i)rcached with an ehxiuence that filled his hearers with 
admiration. His great theme was Christ ; his object was to se- 
cure tlie salvation of sinners. Erasmus admitted him into his 
circle of scholars, saying, to his delight, "There is but one thing 
that we sliould look ibr in Holy Scripture, and that is Jesus 
Christ." Would that the monarch of the schools had always 



THE PARSON TEMPTED TO WAR. 47 

submitted to this excellent rule ! He gave the young preacher, 
as a memorial of friendship, the first part of the gospel of John, 
(Ecolampadius kept it suspended to his crucifix, " in order that 
he might remember Erasmus in his prayers." 

Zwingli received a new impulse for study, for duty and for 
preaching. He returned to his native mountains with his soul 
full of what he had seen and heard. He poured out his heart 
to his students and his friends, and they were delighted to see 
that he had increased in wisdom and in zeal. The aged re- 
spected him for the consolations which he imparted ; the young, 
for the interest he took in their welfare ; the magistrates, for his 
courageous patriotism ; and the faithful pastors more distant es- 
teemed him as a true and bold minister of God. Nothing im- 
portant was done in the country without first consulting him. 
Well had it been if his advice had been followed both in Church 
and State. 

When Francis I. ascended the throne of France in 1515, he 
resolved to regain his footing in Italy and avenge the French 
name. A Romish king was at war with his pope. The pope 
again sought the help of the Swiss. Attracted by the offer of 
gold* and plunder, they were ready to drop their labours, quit 



* "No money, no Swiss," has been a reproachful proverb for centuries. 
A Swiss journal has recently given this explanation of it: The duke of 
Sforza once said to the Swiss soldiers, who had helped him gain a victory, 
" Help yourselves like knights to the plunder, for I have no money." The 
answer was, " This we cannot do; where there is no money, there can be 
no Swiss;" meaning that if there was no just pay, they would not plun- 
der the goods of the people. Yet the wonder is that Switzerland has not 
been completely ruined by the foreign service. From 1474 to 1774, eight 
hundred thousand men fought for the French kings, and three-fourths of 
them were slain. Fifteen millions of dollars were paid them. 



48 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

tlieir Alpine pastures and march to '' defend the Church.** 
Zwirigli could not stay the powerful influence of the tempting 
Cardinal Schinner. The men of Claris would enlist, and he 
must join them. He took the sword and placed on his shoulder 
the glittering halberd. A Swiss army was again on the plains of 
Italy, and he was their armed chaplain. The battle was delayed. 
The French had their secret agents at work among the Swiss 
soldiers, oifering bribes and sowing discord. Zwingli saw that 
they were becoming ' ' demoralized. ' ' It wrung his heart. Often 
he stood in the camp haranguing them with energy, and appeal- 
ing to them to avoid disgrace. Five days before the battle of 
Marignan, he preached in the square of Monza, where all the 
soldiers who had not deserted and who still remained true to 
their colours were assembled. But he appealed to them almost 
in vain, for he would not descend so low as to give the rein to 
their passions and incite them to plunder and debauchery. ' ' If 
we had then and always followed his advice," said his friend 
Steiner, * ' what evils would our country have been spared ! ' ' 
The French bought oiF a large part of the army. The cardinal 
Schinner appeared, spoke to the rest with his impetuous elo- 
quence, appealed to their basest passions, promised them the 
spoils of war, and so electrified them that they ruslicd down 
upon the enemy like a torrent against the rocks. The flower of 
the Swiss youth perished at Marignan. Zwingli threw himself 
into danger, wielding the battle-axe and almost perishing by it. 
The mountaineers were defeated ; the French first conquered 
them, and afterward bought them over to their interest, to the 
great sorrow of their brave chaplain, who felt jealous for the 
honour of his countrymen. 

This second martial visit to Italy was not unprofitable to 
Zwingli. Even amid the tumult of camps he indulged liis 



THE PARSON TEMPTED TO WAR. " 49 

spirit of inquiry. When the Swiss forces were driven back 
to Milan, he did all that he could for his wounded companions, 
and then made researches in the old libraries and churches. He 
found a mass-book used in the time of Ambrose. At once he 
saw how very different it was from that which Rome had brought 
into use. It had nothing in it really about the mass. Which 
was the true one, the ancient or the modern ? He solved that 
question by going farther back — to the word of God, in which 
there was not a shadovv^ of foundation for the mass, for penance, 
or for any of the peculiar rites of the Romish Church. 

After his return to Grlaris, he was one day at MoUis, in the 
house of parson Adam, along with several other priests, when 
he happened to light upon an ancient liturgy. It was about two 
hundred years old. They compared it with the one which they 
used every week in their churches. Among other differences 
were these words, " After the child is baptized, let him partake 
of the sacrament of the Eucharist and likewise of the cup. ' ' 

''In that day," said Zwingli, "you see that the sacrament 
was given in our churches under both kinds. But now the cup 
is withheld — only the bread is given. ' ' Here, then, was an im- 
portant discovery. The Church had departed from the customs 
of the Fathers. They went to the Bible and found that the Lord 
intended both the bread and the wine to be administered in the 
Lord's Supper. 

The parishioners of Grlaris found Zwingli preaching with new 
energy. Four years before he had bent his head over his Bible ; 
now he raised it and told them what he had discovered in the 
word of Grod. He did not attack Rome nor expose the errors 
of the clergy and the Church. "If the people understand what 
is true," said he, " they will soon discern what is false." This, 
however is not always the true rule, and he would yet depart 



60 ' ULKICH ZWINGLI. 

from it. Sometimes, by pointing out error in the proper spirit, 
the truth is made the more manifest. ''The spring is the time 
for sowing," said he, and he could not stop to root out the tares. 
" Let both grow together until the harvest." 

We have not forgotten his book-money. We are anxious to 
know what he did witli the annuity. So long as it was a mere 
pension he received it, but when it seemed to him as a bribe, he 
refused it. About the year 1 516 he wrote, " I confess here, before 
(xod and all the world, my sin [in drawing the annual sum for 
books], for before the year 1516 I hung mightily on the Roman 
l)ower, and thought it highly becoming in me to take money from 
it, although I told the Romish ambassadors, in clear and express 
terms, when they exhorted me to preach nothing against the 
pope, that they were not to fancy that I, for their money, should 
withhold one iota of the truth ; so they might take back or give 
it as they pleased." They still urged it upon him as a pension. 

His conscience was thus clear, and he boldly rebuked the men 
of Glaris for receiving bribes of the French party. Myconius 
wrote: ''He began now to follow the example of Christ in de- 
nouncing from the pulpit certain base vices then very common, 
especially the taking of gifts from princes and engaging in bale- 
ful, mercenary wars ; for he saw clearly that the divine truth 
would never find an entrance until these sources of iniquity were 
closed." With all his wise boldness he was touching the tender 
point in the hearts of some of his parishioners. They had sold 
themselves to France. The French interest gained the upper 
liand in Glaris, and from this time his residence there was made 
uncomfortable. God was stirring up the eaglets nest, that he 
might take his servant in his everlasting arms and bear him 
nearer to himself. 

Zwingli dated the beginning of the Reformation in German 



THE PAKSON TEMPTED TO WAE. 51 

Switzerland with the year 1516, one j^ear before Luther bravely 
posted his theses on the church door at Wittemberg. D' Aubigne 
says: "It has been erroneously concluded from these dates that 
Zwingli's reform preceded that of Luther. Perhaps Zwingli 
preached the gospel a year previous to the publication of 
Luther's theses, but Luther himself preached four years before 
those celebrated propositions. If Luther and Zwingli had 
stiictly confined themselves to preaching, the Reformation would 
not so rapidly have overrun the Church. Luther and Zwingli 
were neither the first monk nor the first priest who had taught 
a purer doctrine than the schoolmen.^ But Luther was the first 
to uplift, publicly and with indomitable courage, the standard of 
truth against the dominion of error ; to direct general attention 
to the fundamental doctrine of the Gospel — salvation by grace ; 
to lead his generation into that new way of knowledge, faith and 
life from which a new world has issued ; in a word, to begin a 
salutary and real revolution. ' ^ 

Yet the priest of Glaris deserves all the credit of acting inde- 
pendently of the monk of Wittemberg. God kindled many 
fires at different points about the same time. The fact that the 
same truths were brought to light by various scholars, without 
any knowledge of each other or any preconcerted plan, is a proof 
that the truth and the work were both of the Lord. The Refor- 
mation was wholly of God, lest any man should boast. Among 
the Alps there were many who were simultaneously searching 



* Not to mention many others of that age, we refer to Lefevre in Paris, 
who taught Farel in 1510 — 1515 the doctrines of justification by faith and 
of regeneration by the Holy Ghost. Farel was the first great Reformer in 
French Switzerland, and altogether independent of Luther. See " Wil- 
llam Farel," Presbyterian Board of Publication. 



5^ ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

the Scriptures, and broaching their new discoveries. *' In Swit- 
zerland," says D'Aiiblgne, whose love for his mountain-land has 
made him familiar with its history, " the struggle begins in dif- 
ferent cantons at the same time ; there is a confederation of 
Keformers ; their number surprises us ; no doubt one head over- 
tops the others, but no one commands ; it is a republican senate 
in which all appear with their original features and distinct influ- 
ences. They are a host; Wittembach, Zwingli, Capito, Haller, 
(Ecolampadius, Oswald Myconius, Leo Juda, Farel, Calvin." He 
might have added Glarean and Vadian. "In the German He- 
formation there is but one stage, flat and uniform as the country 
itself; in Switzerland the Reformation is divided, like the region 
itself, by its thousand mountains. Each valley, so to speak, has 
its own awakening, and each peak of the Alps its own light from 
heaven." 

We know not whether Zwingli was at all sensitive on this point 
of priority, but he had a right to assert his just claim. In later 
years he was compelled to do it in self-defence. Luther had 
been proclaimed a heretic by the pope and excommunicated, to 
his eternal honour, be it remembered. It was thought that the 
speediest way of getting rid of Zwingli's influence was to stigma- 
tize him as an imitator of Luther. His answer was : "I began 
to preach the gospel bcfoie a single individual in our part of the 
country ever heard the name of Luther. This was in 1516. 
Who called me a Lutheran then? When Luther's exposition of 
the Lord's prayer appeared, it so hapi)ened that I liad shortly 
before preached from Matthew on the same prayer. Well, some 
good folks, who everywhere found my thoughts in Luther's work, 
wouM hardly let themselves be made to believe that I had not 
written this book myself; they fancied that, being afraid to put 
my own name to it, T had set that (^f Luther instead. Who 



THE PAESON TEMPTED TO WAR. 58 

then called me a follower of Luther ? Then how conies it that 
the E-omish cardinals and legates, who were at that very time in 
Zurich, never reproached me as a Lutheran until they had de- 
clared Luther a heretic, which, however, they could never make 
him? When they had branded him a heretic, they first ex- 
claimed that 1 was a Lutheran, although Luther's name was 
entirely unknown to me during these two years that I kept to the 
Bible alone. But it is part of their cunning policy to load me 
and others with this name. Do they say, You must be a Lu- 
theran, for you preach as Luther ; I answer, I preach too as Paul 
writes ; why not call me a Paulian ? Nay, I preach the word 
of Christ ; why not much rather call me a Christian ? In my 
opinion, Luther is one of God's chosen heralds and combatants, 
who searches the Scriptures with greater zeal than has been done 
by any man on earth for the last thousand years. 

'"Therefore, dear Christians, let not the name of Christ be 
changed into the name of Luther ; for Luther has not died for 
us, but he teaches us to know him from whom alone our sal- 
vation comes. If Luther preaches Christ, he does it as I do ; 
although, God be praised for it, aft innumerable multitude, much 
more than by me and by others, have been converted to God 
through him, for God metes out to every man as he will. For 
my part, I shall bear no other name but that of my Captain 
Jesus Christ, whose soldier I am. No man can esteem Luther 
more highly than I do. Yet I testify before God and all men 
that I have never at any time written to him, nor has he to me. I 
have purposely abstained from all correspondence with him ; not 
that I feared any man on this account, but because I would have 
it appear how uniform the Spirit of God is, in so far that we who 
are far distant from each other, and have held no communication, 
are yet of the same mind, and this without the slighest concert. 



54 ULRICH ZWINGLT. 

But I will not be so bold as to place nij^sclf by the side of Luther, 
for each of us works according to the ability given us of God." 

Such was Zwingli's position. Beautifully does he also say, 
''Seeking for the touch-stone of truth, I found none other than 
the ' stone of stumbling and rock of oflFence. ' I began to test 
every doctrine by this test. Did I see that the touch-stone gave 
back the same colour, or rather that the doctrine could bear the 
brightness of the stone, I accepted it ; if not, I cast it away. 
At length I brought it so far that at the first touch of the stone 
I could tell what was false and adulterate, and from that time 
forward, no power, no threatening could bring me to place the 
like faith in the human as in the divine." 




CHAPTER V. 

JPMJEACHING TO JPILGBIMS, 
(1516-1518.) 

THE legend runs that in the time of Charlemagne, a G-erman 
monk, named Meinrad, of the noble house of Hohenzollern, 
resolved to end his days in solitude and prayer. He passed by 
St. Gall, to the south of Lake Zurich, and there on a little hill 
among the pines he built a cell. He was devoted to a little black 
image of the Virgin, which had been given him by St. Hilde- 
garde, the abbess of Zurich. In 861 two robbers came and mur- 
dered him, without a thought of being detected. The monk 
had reared two pet ravens, which pursued the ruffians as far as 
Zurich, croaking and flapping their wings over hill and dale. So 
strange a pursuit gave trouble to the consciences of the mur- 
derers, and they betrayed themselves. They were arrested, con- 
victed and put to death in Zurich on the spot where now stands 
the Raven Inn. 

The reputation of the saint increased, and men sought his cell 
in the Finsterwald. It w^as in ruins, but was rebuilt in the tenth 
century, and a church founded there by the Benedictine hermits 
[Einsiedlern). The church was built in honour of the Virgin 
Mary, and to increase the reverence for it the story was in- 
vented that when the bishop was about to consecrate it, a voice 
was heard thrice, crjang, " Stop ! stop ! God himself has conse- 
crated it." The bishop ceased, and angels attended the Virgin 

55 



56 ui.mcH zwixGLi. 

Mary as she dedicated tbe churcli to God. The pope declared 
this a true miracle, though the monks knew the trick. Pope 
Leo YIII. forbade the faithful to doubt the truth of the legend. 
It took the name of '' Our Lad}^ of the Hermits," and a plenary 
indulgence was declared to all pilgrims who should repair to the 
shrine, where were inscribed the words, ' ' Here is a full remission 
of sins. ' ' Hence for nine centuries there has been an • almost 
unbroken line of pilgrims to this sacred place. A town grew up, 
which is still called Einsidlen.* Wealth poured into the monas- 
tery. It gained extended power, having various parishes and 
convents under its command. It was the rival of St. Gall. Its 
abbot came to be a prince of the " Holy Eoman Empire," and had 
a seat in the Diet. Princes and nobleman became his chamber- 
lains, marshals and cup-bearers. A reformation was needed. To 
its famous school many sons of the nobility were committed for 
several centuries. 

Conrad of Rechberg was the abbot-prince of Einsidlen in the 
time of Zwingli. In his youth he had been forced to join the 
monks by selfish relatives, who now paid him visits since he Imd 
risen to such a height. If he wished to shun them, he mounted 
his horse, called his liounds and set out for the forests, for he 
was one of the most celebrated of huntsmen. On one of his 
farms he reared a breed of horses which became famous in Italy. 
With all his love for the chase, he was serious, frank, fearless, 
and seems to have been as upright and i)ious a man as could be; 
found in a convent. A little rough sometimes, yet under liis 
monk's cloak there beat as warm and generous a heart as ever 
throbbed under a coat of mail. There were two things that lie 
equally detested — debates in scholastic tlieology and the jyreten- 



* EiDsicdlorn, Einsicdcln, Einsiedlen. 



PEEACHING TO PILGRIIVIS. 57 

sions of Rome. He did not believe in the infallibility of the 
pope, and many papal ceremonies were nonsense to him. 
Luther would have enjoyed him, even if Conrad had said, " No 
arguments now upon justification." 

But he did not always leave his fawning relatives when they 
came to wind themselves into his heart. He sometimes re- 
mained at home and sent them off in a hurry. He once said to 
them, "You have stuck a cowl on my head at the peril of my 
soul, and I must be a monk while you ride about as country 
squires. But, my good people, don't come here begging anything 
of me, but just return over the road by which you came. ' ' 

When certain officials came to visit his order, and reproached 
him for not reading mass and for making no great account of it, 
he said, "Although I am master here in my own convent, and 
could send you away with a very short answer, yet I will tell you 
plainly what I think of the mass. If the Lord Jesus Christ be 
really in the host (wafer), I know not how very highly you es- 
teem yourselves, but I do know that I, a poor monk, am not 
worthy to look upon him, to say nothing of daring to offer him 
up in sacrifice to the eternal God. If, however, he be not present 
there, woe's me if I hold up bread to the people before the 
Lord our God, and call upon them to worship a wafer. There- 
fore let me alone. If God will, I shall so preside over God's 
house that I may be able to give account to him. As I have no 
need of you, please to go ; you are dismissed. ' ' 

At another time Leo Juda was discussing some intricate ques- 
tion at the table with the superior of the convent, when the 
abbot exclaimed, ' ' What care I for your disputations ? I say 
now, and ever shall say with David, ' Have mercy upon me, 
Lord, according to thy loving-kindness, and enter not into judg- 
ment with thy servant.' I desire to know nothing more." 



58 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

Conrad was old, and he retired altogether from the adminis- 
tration of the cloister, committing it to Baron Theobald of 
Geroldsck, a doctor of divinity. He was a man of mild cha- 
racter, sincere piety and great love for literature. His favourite 
plan was to gather about him a circle of learned and pious men, 
as teachers, chaplains and preachers, giving them leisure for 
study. He heard of Zwingli, and in 1516 invited him to be 
priest and preacher at the convent. The parson of Glaris did 
not hesitate, for he saw that his influence in the parish was dis- 
turbed because he did not hold French op.inions in politics. 

"It is neither ambition nor covetousness, " said he, "that 
takes me there, but the intrigues of the French." There were 
also reasons of a higher kind. He would have more time for 
study, and he could preach the gospel to the thousands of pil- 
grims who resorted thither, and they might carry the good news 
of Jesus Christ into distant lands where they dwelt. 

All who truly loved the gospel at Glaris loudly expressed their 
grief when losing their faithful pastor. They blamed the poli- 
ticians for driving him away. "What can be more distressing,'* 
said Peter Tschudi, a chief man in the canton, "than to be de- 
prived of so good a pastor?" His parishioners, seeing him 
determined to go, resolved to continue to him the title of pastor 
of (ilaris, with a part of the salary, and tlie privilege of return- 
in.ir wli(Miever he chose. 

Zwingli was hailed with joy by Geroldsek and his select coni- 
pany. They were eager to learn from liim what they did not yet 
know — that there was a complete salvation in Christ He was 
soon regarded as the spiritual instructor in the convent. Gerold- 
sek sat as an inquirer at his feet, begging for more light. "Study 
the Holy Scrii)tures," said Zwingli, "and that you may better 
understand them, read St. Jerome. However, the time will 



PREACHIJSG TO PILGRIMS. 59 

come (and that soon, with God's help) when Christians will not 
set great store either by St. Jerome or any other doctor, but 
solely by the word of God. ' ' 

' ' We will all read the Scriptures, ' ' answered the manager, 
''and the nuns too shall have the Bible." He permitted the 
nuns of the convent of which he had the charge to read it in 
the German tongue, saying that this was better than to be daily 
drawling over their Latin mass-songs in their usual heedless 
manner, and that if any of them felt burdened by their vows, 
they might return to their homes. One of the first effects of 
the revived gospel was to dissolve the convents and particularly 
the nunneries. 

How Zwingli sang with Leo Juda we are not told, but doubt- 
less the songs of the Tockenburg and the national airs were laid 
aside. He grew more serious. At Glaris he had been known to 
take part in worldly amusements, but now he sought to avoid 
every appearance of evil. He drew to him Francis Zing, the 
chaplain, and John Exlin (Oechslin), who renounced their errors 
and yielded to the convictions of the truth and the Holy Spirit 
A studious circle of men sat together, far removed from the noise 
of parties, reading the Bible, the Fathers, the masterpieces of 
antiquity and the writings of the restorers of learning. Friends 
often joined them from distant parts. Capito came. The two 
old friends of Basle walked over the convent together, strolled 
through the wild scenery of the neighbourhood, talked of the new 
doctrines and sought to know God's will. "The pope must 
fall," said Zwingli. "The sooner the better," answered Capito, 
who was then a bolder man than afterward. 

Amid such leisure, books and friends, Zwingli began a work 
which was of great service to him. As in the ancient days the 
wiser Hobrew kings transcribed the law of God with their own 



60 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

hands, so he copied the Epistles of Paul in the Greek character. 
This copy is still preserved at Zurich. The editions of the New 
Testament were then voluminous, and Zwingli thus had one that 
he could carry with him wherever he went. He committed its 
chapters to memory, as he afterward did other books of Scrij)- 
ture. Thus he became thoroughly furnished for the work of 
preaching, for in proclaiming the gospel he was to show himself 
the lleformer at Einsidlen. He prepared his sermons with great 
care. He studied the passage on which he intended to speak in 
its original language, and when in the pulpit commented upon it. 
But how could he preach with any hope of success so long as he 
saw the abounding idolatry? It was quite equal to that of the 
natives of that region, who were once angry at Columban when 
they saw that some of his followers had burned their idol-temple 
to the ground. The objects of worship were different, but the 
superstitions were of the same spirit. Marj'^ was adored instead 
of Chiist and the Father. Her picture, said to be centuries old, 
was of more value in their eyes than the true cross. 

In honour of the angels who were said to have filled the 
church when it was consecrat<3d by a miracle, the festival of the 
angel-consecration had been appointed and long observed. 
Crowds of pilgrims wished to spend this day at *'Our Lady of 
the Hermits.'* Zwingli felt as Paul did at Athens when he saw 
the city wholly given to idolatry. He must make every effort to 
correct it. He laid hold of two great truths — God is everywhere, 
and Christ alone saves. He went into the pulpit in 1517, 
on the day of the angel-consecration. He attacked boldly the 
superstitions of the crowds around him. The church, the abbey 
and the valley were filled with the devotees of Mary. They had 
come from all parts of Christendom. Troops of pilgrims were 
still pouring in, or in long files they were going up Uie slopes 



PREACHING TO PILGRIMS. 61 

of the mountain to an oratory, singing their songs or counting 
their beads. But those who filled the church supposed that 
there they were nearer to God than in any other place. 

*'Donot imagine," said the preacher, "that God is in this 
temple more than in any other part of creation. Whatever be 
your country, he is there as well as at Einsidlen. There he can 
hear and help you. Can long pilgrimages, offerings, images, the 
invocation of saints or of the Virgin, secure to you the grace of 
God?" Some of his hearers began to rebuke themselves for 
having travelled so far for God's grace, when they could have re- 
ceived it at home. But they were hearing what they never 
knew before, and were thankful for new light. Others would 
have left the church if they could. The doors were thronged. 

"Who is a hypocritical Christian but the pope, who exalts 
himself in the place of Christ, says he has his power, and so 
binds God to Rome and Bomish sanctuaries ? Men must come 
to the holy places, and bring money in enormous quantities to 
enrich them. And in just such places are more wantonness and 
vice than anywhere else. . . . He who ascribes to man the power 
to forgive sins, blasphemes God. Great evils have sprung from 
this source, so that some whose eyes have been blinded by the 
pope have fancied that their sins were forgiven by sinful men. 
Thus God has been hid from them. ' ' There were priests in the 
audience who shrugged their shoulders at these words, and might 
have risen to defend the pope and the confessional, had they not 
feared the indignation of the people. 

" We do not dishonour Mary when we teach that she ought 

not to be worshipped. But we dishonour her, indeed, when we 

ascribe to her the majesty of God. She would not suffer such 

idolatry if she could speak to us. For she worships Christ and 

the Father, and she would abhor the reverence which should be 




62 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

paid only to God. He who i)uts liis faith in her divine Son, 
honours her the highest, for her honour is her Son's. Yea, if 3'e 
will honour her, then imitate her pure life, her steadftist faith in 
Jesus, her adoration of the Christ. So strong was her trust in 
him that no wretchedness, no poverty, no conduct of the people 
who rejected him, no daily reproaches, were able to turn her 
from him, so as even once to doubt in him." 

Thus Zwingli preached to thousands of pilgrims at the festival 
of the angel-consecration, and afterward at Pentecost. The im- 
pression was powerful. All were astonished, some enraged, some 
delighted. Not a few fled in horror from the scene ; others lin- 
gered between the faith of their fathers and these new doctrines ; 
many went to Jesus, who was set forth as meek, gentle, willing to 
receive them and forgive, retaining the gifts they had brought 
for the Virgin. A crowd of pilgrims returned homeward to 
various lands, declaring what they had heard at Einsidlen, that 
** Chiist alone saves^ and he saves eveinjwliere ; not Mary, but 
Christ is the Saviour; not men, but God forgives sins; not 
works, but faith is the way of justification and eternal life." 
Often did whole bands, belated in the journey to '' Our Lady," 
meet the returning companies, hear the astounding reports, learn 
the simple lessons of faith, and turn back to their homes ; or if 
they pressed on, many did so in order to hear with their own 
ears the words of the man who preached that Jesus could save 
them without pilgrimages, without confession to priests, without 
the invocation of saints and without any merits of their own. 
Mary's worshij)pers daily decreased in number. It was from 
their offerings that Zwingli and Geroldsek were to derive their 
incomes. It was to the preacher's pecuniary advantage that she 
should continue to attract deluded thousands. But he was su- 
premely above such a base consideration. This bold witness to 



PREACHING TO PILGRIMS. 63 

the truth felt happj^ in making himself poor if he could lead 
lost souls into the riches of grace and glory. 

One man came all the way from Basle to hear Zwingli at 
Whitsuntide. He entered the church, but none knew him as 
Gaspard Hedio, doctor of divinity. He was struck with the 
text, "The Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins." 
He drank in every word. From that hour he loved Zwingli. He 
would have liked to call upon him and lay bare the convictions 
in his soul, but he was timid. He wandered round the abbey ; 
his. courage did not rise ; he dare not advance. He remounted 
his horse and slowly rode away, often turning his eyes back 
toward the walls that enclosed ,so gr^at a treasure, and bearing in 
in his heart the keenest regret that he had not ventured to meet, 
face to face, the man who had so touched his heart. 

The famous Cardinal Schinner sought repose from weariness 
in politics and from the disturbances in his diocese, and spent 
some time at the convent. He may have heard Zwingli say, 
''The popedom rests on a bad foundation ; apply yourselves to 
the work ; reject all errors and abuses, or else you will see the 
whole edifice fall with a tremendous crash." But the cardinal 
was too fox-like to enter into a discussion, for that might drive 
tlie Beformer to a point from which no crafty arts could win him 
back to Bomanism. Other men were coming as legates from 
Bome to try their force of persuasion upon the intrepid 
preacher. 

There came to Eidsidlen two men who were intent upon sav- 
ing Zwingli to the Bomish Church and enlisting him in politics, 
so that he might win back the cantons to the papal service. 
Cardinal Puccius and the legate Ennius talked with him fre- 
quently, and offered him such pensions and honours as had 
tempted Erasmus and silenced the batteries which he had 



64 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

turned upon Rome. But they could not purchase his liberty 
of speech. "I am resolved," said he, ''to preach the pure 
gospel to the people, whatever may occur and even if Rome 
totter." 

" The pension need not compromise you," replied the shrewd 
legates. " It is a simple tribute to your scholarship. We en- 
treat you to receive it. ' ' 

" I will accept it for a short time, but do not imagine that for 
the love of money I will retract a single word of truth." 

The legates had not gained their object, for the bold preacher 
would not enter the pope's service, although he then had no in- 
tention of setting himself in open hostility to Rome. Cardinal 
Puccius took alarm. He obtained for Zwingli a high but nom- 
inal appointment from the pope — a mere sinecure, with no work 
and no pay. He was given a parchment which informed him 
that ' ' he deserves, in the eyes of the pope, a recognition of 
his great learning, and some distinguished marks of paternal 
approbation. Therefore he (the legate) raises him, by papal 
authority, to the honourable distinction of acolyte-chaplain of 
the holy father, whereby he may perceive the favour in which 
he is held." He was counselled to aspire after higher honours. 
The ladder was placed at his feet, with the livings of bishops, 
the red hats of cardinals, the privileges of the Roman court and 
a chance for the papal chair, all at the top of it. ''All these 
will I give thee," said the tempter. Would he choose the way 
that led to these earthy glories, or prefer the crown of thorns 
and the cross of Christ? The same Rome that sought to 
frighten Luther offered her favours to Zwingli ; in both cases 
she failed. Her cardinals had made proposal of relief to him ; 
he would now make overtures of reform to her bishops. Why 
not, since lie was acolyte-chaplain to the pope ? — a mere title in- 



PREACHING TO PILGRIMS. 65 

deed, but titles are something in the eyes of those who judge 
others bj^ them. 

John Faber, the classmate at Vienna, and still the friend of 
the Reformer, had entered the service of the bishop of Con- 
stance, and risen to be his general-vicar. Perhaps he had given 
his bishop some new ideas ; at any rate, Hugh von Landenberg 
had declared quite strongly against the corru])tions in the Church, 
and urged some mild reforms in his diocese. Might he not be 
persuaded to go farther, and lift high and carry bravely the 
standard against error? Zwingli would try him. A letter on 
refoiniation went from Einsidlen to Constance. The bishop 
read it. Faber could tell him who Zwingli was. "Convent- 
preachers are not my advisers," we hear the bishop say: 
''when the holy father ordei-s a reform it will be time 
enough to begin it." Such was his reply. A vicious woman 
may have softly whispered in his ear that a lax bishop should 
not meddle with repentance. 

If Hugh von Landenberg were living to this day, lie would 
not be able to remember a pope who set earnestly about a re- 
form, beginning at the right point. In the sixteenth century 
almost every ' ' holy father' ' had his chair beset with men urging 
him to correct the great abuses in the Church. If one of them 
called a council for reform, he contrived to have nothing done, 
for he knew that if the work was thoroughly begun the whole 
Romish system must be destroyed. There was one common 
mistake made by all the Reformers in their first efforts, unless 
we except William Farel. They sought to enlist prelates and 
princes in the work, and have them urge it forward by the power 
of their office and the weight of their names. But Grod did not 
intend that the mighty movement should be in their hands. 
They would not manage it well. He had other servants, who 



§6 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

should teach the humblest of men that they might be the sons 
of God and co-workers with him in his kingdom. He chose 
feeble agents, that the power might be of God. Not the old 
prelacy, but the eternal word should work the reformation. 




CHAPTER VI. 

THE MOMISU SAMSON, 
(1518-1510,) 

THE pope needed money. He proposed to raise it, as two 
former popes had done with success, by selling pardons to 
the people under the name of indulgences. In an Italian con- 
vent was a monk named Samson, ready to sell them to the "good 
Christians" of Switzerland, as Tetzel had done in Germany. 
He received his commission, and was joined by men who would 
act as skilful auctioneers, puff the empty wares and push on the 
scandalous traffic. He set out barefoot, and led his greedy train 
over the heights of St. Grotthard, whose glaciers are as old as the 
world. The band looked like wretched adventurers in search of 
plunder, bearing with them loads of paper signed in the name 
of the pope. In August, 1518, they reached Uri, and there 
opened their trade. The poor mountaineers gathered about the 
hawker as he cried, ' ' I can forgive all sins ; heaven and hell are 
under my dominion ; I sell the merits of Jesus Christ to every 
one who will pay cash for absolution. ' ' 

''What cheap forgiveness!" thought the deluded people. 
They handed up their money and took the paper which pre- 
tended to bear the signature of Pope Leo X. They imagined 
the wily impostor to be a messenger of peace to their troubled 
consciences, and vied with each other in grasping the proffered 
indulgence. Samson knew how poor these peasants were ; he 



68 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

drew from them all they could give ; he wanted a richer harvest, 
and after gaining some skill in his arts, he set out for a wealthier 
region, in the canton of Schwytz, from which comes the name of 
Switzerland.^' Richer citizens came at his call, and he asked 
from them a larger price. The higher the rank, the more costly 
tlie pardon. But when he had negotiated for aristocratic sins, 
he turned again to the i^easants and they laid their scanty earn- 
ings at his feet. 

Zwingli heard of him, for he lived in the same canton. His 
soul was roused by the unblushing effrontery of llomanism and 
the blasphemies of the indulgence-f^eller. If the Dominican 
Tetzel made himself vile in the eyes of Luther, the Franciscan 
Samson was viler still in the eyes of Zwingli. A bold voice was 
lifted up at Einsidlen. ■ The preacher took the puli)it, saying, 
''Jesus Christ the Son of God has said, Come unto me, all ye 
that lahoitr and are heavy laden ^ and lie ill give you rest. Is it 
not audacious folly and shameless impudence for a man to say, 
* Buy a ticket of absolution ; give money to the monks ; make 
sacrifices to the priests, and I will pronounce you free from all 
sin?' Can your gifts save you? No; Jesus Christ is the only 
sacrifice, the only gift, the only way. Those who sell the remis- 



* The legend is that a colony of Swedes, long ago, was on the way to 
Rome, iritLMidini; to dwell in a warmer climate. A storm Mocked u]) the 
j»ass of the St. (lotthard, and robhcrs assailed them. Beaten back, they 
settled in the valley of lirunncn. The question arose, what name they 
.should give to the new land. Two brothers wished to baptize it, each 
witii his own name. They resolved to decide the matter oy a single com- 
bat. Schioit conquered Schciz, and was crowned the victor. By a little 
change, his name became Schwytz, the title given afterward to all Swit- 
zorliind. Ti»is canton, with Uri and Unterwalden, gave origin to the 
Swiss oonfcilcralion in the days of Willi:viii Trll. 



THE ROMISH SAMSON. 69 

sion of sins for money are the companions of Simon the Magician, 
the friends of Balaam, the ambassadors of Satan." 

The effect of this preaching was soon felt in the canton. The 
people began to say, " Samson is a cheat, a robber." He feared 
an uproar, dreaded to meet Zwingli, and turned aside to find 
more superstitious customers in the canton of Zug. Shortly 
after he had gone, a citizen of distinguished character, named 
Stapfer, was suddenly reduced to great distress. He had given 
his all for indulgences. He probably learned his error through 
the preaching of Zwingli, to whom he went, saying, ' ' Alas ! I 
know not how to satisfy my hunger and that of my poor chil- 
dren." The man who had attacked Rome had mercy on the 
victims whom Kome had fleeced. Every day he carried sup- 
plies to Stapfer. " It is God," said he, "who prompts us to 
charity ; the giver deserves no praise. Every good thought and 
resolve comes from Grod. Whatever good work the righteous 
man doeth, it is God who doeth it by his own power." 

"Since you provide for my temporal wants," said Stapfer, 
with noble candour, "how much more may I now expect from 
you the food that will satisfy my soul !" Pie said this four years 
after his losses, when he was secretary of state. He remained 
attached to Zwingli all his life. 

On a September day Samson drew an immense crowd arouiul 
him. The poorest were the most eager to buy indulgences, pre- 
venting the richer ones from getting near him, which did not 
suit his views. "Good folks," he cried, "do not crowd so 
much ! make wslj for those who have more money. We will 
afterward endeavour to satisfy those who have none." Three 
days after he set out for other towns, where he befooled the 
people. He went to Berne. At first he was forbidden to enter 
the city, but through some friends he was finally allowed to set 



70 ULRICH ZWINGLT. 

u\) his stall in St. Vincent's Church, where he bawled out to the 
crowds more lustily than before. To the rich he said, '' Here are 
indulgences on parchment for a crown." Turning to the poor he 
said, "There are absolutions on common paper for three half- 
l^ence." The crowd once gave way to a celebrated knight, rid- 
ing on a prancing dapple-gray horse, which the monk greatly 
admired. " Give me," said Jacques de Stein, '*an indulgence 
for myself, for my troop, five hundred strong, for all my vassals 
at Belp, and for all my ancestors, and you shall have my charger 
in exchange." 

"A high price for a horse !" thought the monk, but they soon 
came to terms : the steed was led to the stable, the knight took 
his parchment, and all those souls were declared exempt from 
hell. So much respect was felt for Samson that the aged and 
enlightened councillor De May, who had spoken irreverently of 
him, was compelled to fall on his knees and beg pardon of the 
haughty Franciscan. Even Henry Lupulus (Littlewolf ), Zwin- 
gli's former teacher, was so carried away that he stood on the 
altar steps and interpreted the words of the Italian monk. 

*' When the wolf and the fox prowl about together," said the 
canon Anselm to the school director De Watville, '*your safest 
plan is to shut up your sheep and your ^cese.'^ Had the fox 
heard the witticism, he would not have felt disturbed. 

The papal mountebank kept his best trick to the last. On the 
day before he left Berne, he cried out to the people, *' Kneel 
down, recite three Paters and three Aves, and your souls will at 
once become as i>ure as at the moment of your baptism." The 
multitude fell on their knees, when Samson shouted aloud, '' I 
deliver from the torments of purgatory and of hell all the souls 
of the Bernese who are dead, whatever may have been the 
manner and i)lace of their death." He could ill afford to be 



THE PwOMISH SAMSON. 71 

SO generous unless he had reaped a large harvest from the 
citizens. 

But he was sometimes outwitted. The bishop of Constance, 
who had been heedless of Zwingli's letter, was angry because 
Samson had not brought his papers to be legalized by him, and 
he forbade the priests of his diocese to open their churches to 
the trafficker. At Baden, hovrevcr, the parson dared not resist 
him. He put on airs of haughtiness and splendour. He formed 
a procession to march around the cemetery. Leading the won- 
dering people, his attendants chanted the hymn for the dead. 
Suddenly he stopped, and pretending to see the souls escaping 
from earth to heaven, he exclaimed, ^^ Ecce volant! Behold 
they fly ! " This was too much to be endured. The eyes of the 
deluded must be opened. One man went into the belfry, poured 
upon the wind a sack of white feathers, exclaiming, '"'' Ecce 
volant F'' Many burst into laughter. The people, dead to rea- 
son, were alive to ridicule. Samson flew into a passion; his 
wares would not sell so readily. His wrath was somewhat ap- 
peased when he was told that the wag was not quite sane in his 
mind. The weak sometimes are wisest. The monk left Baden 
quite abashed and disgusted. He was about to arouse a man 
who would meet him with reason and argument. 

No man in Bremgarten was more respected than Dean Bullin- 
ger. The greater errors in the Church were quite unknown to 
him in his quiet retreat, and yet he had little knowledge of the 
truths of the Bible. He was frank, zealous, eloquent, kind to 
the poor and ever ready to help the feeble ones of his flock. In 
his youth he united himself conscientiously with Anna, the 
daughter of a councillor in the town, and was a married priest, 
in spite of the laws of the Romish Church. In all Switzerland 
there was not a more hospitable house. His table was free to all 



72 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

comers ; none of his guests was more cheerful than himself. 
Members of the Diet, going that way, often lodged with him 
for a night. " Bullinger. holds a court," said they, "like the 
most powerful lord. ' ' They perhaps were feasted on the best 
game, for the dean was fond of hunting, and he might often be 
seen with the abbot of Mury and the lords of Hallwyl, followed 
by a pack of ten or twelve hounds, scouring the neighbouring 
fields and forests. This hunting clergymen had a son Henry, 
who became an eminent Reformer, and whom we shall meet 
hereafter. 

On a February day, in 1519, the dean learned that Samson 
and his Italian troop were at the inn of Bremgarten. Bullinger 
was not be taken by storm. He boldly went to the inn and for- 
bade the monk to sell his trash in his deanery. This was a thun- 
derbolt not expected, for the junior priest and a school director 
had invited Samson to the town. No matter for all such invita- 
tions, thought the dean, who said, "I will not allow the purees 
of my parishioners to be drained by paying for letters which the 
bishop has not legalized. ' ' 

"The pope is above the bishop," replied the monk, more sol- 
emnly and respectfully than usual. "I forbid you to deprive 
your flock of so signal a favour." 

"Should it cost me my life, I will not open my church to 
you. 

"llebellious priest!" exclaimed Samson, with his accustomed 
pomposity. "In the name of our most holy lord, the pope, 
I pronounce against you the greater excommunication, and 
will not absolve you until you have redeemed yourself from 
8uch unprecedented rashness by paying three hundred 
ducats." 

" I shall know liow to reply to my lawful judges," said the 



THE KOMISH SAMSON. 73 

dean, leaving the room. *'As for you and your excommunica- 
tion, I care not for either/' 

"Impudent brute I" shouted Samson. '*I am going to 
Zurich, and there I will lay my complaint before the Diet of 
Switzerland. ' ' 

' ' I can appear there as readily as you, ' ' answered Bullinger, 
*' and I will go thither immediately." A champion had just set- 
tled at Zurich, and we gladly turn from Samson to a better man. 
7 




CHAPTER VII. 

A NEW STYJLE OF PMEACHING. 
(1518-1510.) 

FOR five centuries the minster or catliedral of Zurich had 
echoed the voice of papal Rome. The college of canons 
had been careful to choose a preacher who would bow to the will 
Romish Church. The last man of this stamp whom they were 
to hear left them at the time when the Reformation was threat- 
ening to disturb their indolent life. Who would succeed him ? 

These canons invited Oswald Myconius to take charge of the 
minster school. He at once thought of his friend and named 
Zwingli to them. Felix Frey, their provost, was prepossessed in 
his favour, inasmuch as the preacher at Einsidlen was a man of 
fine appearance, graceful manners and pleasing conversation, cel- 
ebrated for eloquence and for the splendour of his genius. His 
brother canons were nearly all of the same mind. Other Zurich- 
ers had listened with delight to his sermons in the convent, and 
returned full of admiration. Everybody was soon in motion 
about the election of a preacher for the cathedral. 

M^^conius informed his friend of the movement: **Many are 
working night and day to have you chosen. Come and visit 
me. 

*' Wednesday next,** replied Zwingli, ''I will go and dine with 

you, when we will talk the matter over.'* 

Ho went, dined, talked, looked about the city, thought well 
74 



A NEW STYLE OF PREACHING. 75 

of it, and saw that the cathedral pulpit oiFered a commanding 
position for one who would preach that " Christ saves every- 
where." One of the canons met him and asked, " Are you will- 
ing to come and preach among us?" 

' ' Yes : I have the desire to come, for there is reason to hope 
that if the grace of God be proclaimed from so renowned a place, 
and accepted there, the rest of Switzerland will follow the exam- 
ple." He returned to his abbey. 

The visit caused alarm in the camp of his enemies. They 
urged several priests to offer themselves as candidates for the 
vacancy. Lawrence Fable, a Swabian, preached a sermon as a 
candidate, and a report got abroad that he was elected. ' ' It is 
very true, then," remarked Zwingli on hearing it, "that no man 
is a prophet in his own country, since a Swabian is preferred to a 
Swiss. I know what the applause of the people is worth." 
But the secretary of Cardinal Schinner notified him that the 
election had not been made. The chaplain of Einsidlen secretly 
felt that if so unworthy a priest as Fable had pleased the peo- 
ple, it was time for some better man to be among them and 
cultivate their tastes. He was all the more eager for the place, 
and wrote to Myconius, who replied the next day : ' ' Fable will 
always be a fable : our gentlemen have learned that he is the 
father of six boys, and already holds I know not how many liv- 
ings. ' ' Sober reformers had their little pleasantries. 

The foes of the gospel busily whispered their stories about 
Zwingli. Some said, "He is too fond of music;" some, "He 
is too lively in company ;" others, " He was once too intimate 
with persons of hght conduct, and was led astray." True, he 
had once fallen somewhat in his younger days at Glaris, but he 
had never gone so far as most priests of his day, and they had 
poisoned the very air that he breathed. But he had repented of 



76 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

all youthful wanderings, and a man of purer moral life could 
not be found in the land. The stories of his op posers fell to the 
ground. 

"Hope on," wrote Oswald, "for I hope." It was really a 
contest between Romanism and Heform. Oswald was intent 
upon winning the day. He visited the burgomaster Roust, a 
veteran warrior, who had known Zwingli at Marignan, and at the 
shake of whose gray head many a council was yet to be brought 
to order. Zwingli was his man. The election was held on the 
eleventh of December, 1518. Out of twenty-four votes, seven- 
teen were for the Reformer. There was hope for Zurich and for 
Switzerland. 

A good work had been done at Einsidlen, not only in Zwingli's 
heart, but in the whole country. The people of Winterthur had 
sent him a call to be their pastor. The parishioners of Glaris 
objected, for they still hoped to win him back to them. He sent 
a good man to the people of Wintherthur. He visited Glaris, 
and in the town hall before the magistrates he resigned the pas- 
torate, to their deep regret. They chose his former scholar, A^al- 
entine Tschudi as his successor. 

Valentine was still a Romanist of the better type. After he 
inclined to the Reformation, he still remained the pastor, per- 
forming mass in the morning and preaching to a Protestant 
congregation in the evening. He avoided every subject of con- 
troversy. The burden of his sermons was, " Live like brethren, 
the disciples of one Lord and Master." When certain persons 
rebuked his tolerance, he replied, "Do you think it impossible 
to be a Catholic in the morning, a Reformer in the evening, and 
yet a Christian all the day?" But he at length became an entire 
IVotcstant. He wrote a history of the Reformatio?!, and died in 



A NEW STYLE OF PREACHING. 77 

1555. One of tliis family lias recently been, and may still be, the 
pastor at Glaris. 

It was a day of mingled joy and sorrow at Einsidlen when its 
inmates were told that their chaplain was going to Zurich. His 
removal would break up the brotherhood of scholars, and what 
prophet could say but that superstition would regain its strong- 
hold, and make it the resort of pilgrims, who would hear 
only of Mary and bow to the black image ? The state council of 
Schwytz presented him with an official mark of respect, styling 
him '^ their reverend, most learned, verj^ gracious lord and good 
friend." They said, " Although grieved to lose j^ou, yet we re- 
joice to have you go to Zurich." 

^' Give us at least a successor worthy of yourself," were the 
the words of the broken-hearted Geroldsek. 

" I have a little lion for you," was the reply ; "one who is sim- 
ple-minded, prudent and deep in the mysteries of Scripture." 
This was Leo Juda, of the fine treble voice, and intrepid spirit. 
Leo went to Einsidlen, when Zwingli left its solitude for the busy 
city of Zurich, the centre of all the political interests of German 
Switzerland, where the most influential men dwelt among its 
seven thousand inhabitants. 

There were many Swiss students at Paris, listening to Lefevre 
and reading the writings of Luther. They were thrilled with joy 
at the news of Zwingli' s election. "All the youth of Switzer- 
land," wrote Glarean, "rejoice, throw their caps into air, espe- 
cially the Zurichers. ... I foresee that your learning will excite 
great hatred, but be of good cheer, and, like Hercules, you will 
subdue the monsters." 

The provost Felix Frey sat in the council-room, with the 
canons around him, to give Zwingli a reception. It may be well 

to look at these canons, and see what manner of men they were. 

7* 



78 ULRICH ZWINGTJ. 

A few of them were honest men, sincere in their popery ; but 
most of them were easy Uvers, who thought more of their sti- 
pends than of their duties. They would fall under the descrip- 
tion given by a layman shortly before the Eeformation, when he 
said, "The popes and the priests have completely oppressed us. 
Firstly, they have discovered the way to fish out all our secrets, 
namely, by the confessional. They next compel us to go to 
church, but it is only that we may sacrifice our money, But 
they never go to church themselves, except when they hope to 
get money. Their duty is to come to church and sing ; yet, in 
order to have less singing to do, they have set up organs to do 
their work. They fail but in one thing, and for that they work 
day and night, and that is that we may go to hell for them." 
One of the Zurich precentors also had said of these same canons, 
"From a number of old horse-shoes a blacksmith can jrii-k out 
one and turn it to good use, but I know of no smith who can, 
out of all these ecclesiastics, make one good canon." 

It was an hour of unusual excitement — all felt how serious 
was the beginning of his ministry. Most of them feared inno- 
vation, and the young priest should fairly understand what was 
expected of him. ''You will make every exertion," said they, 
*'to collect the revenues of the chapter, without overlooking the 
least. You will exhort the faithful, both from the pulpit and 
in the confessional, to pay all tithes and dues, and to show by 
their offerings their affection to the Church. You will be dili- 
gent in increasing the income arising from the sick, from masses 
and from every church ordinance. As for the administration of 
the sacraments, preaching and caring for the flock, you may eni- 
]>l(»y a substitute, particularly in preaching. You should admin- 
ister the sacraments to noiK' but ])ersons of note, and then only 
when ro(|uestyO<l." 



A NEW STYLE OF PEEACHING. 79 

Money ! money I That was first— the preaching of the gospel 
was of the last importance. So Zwiugli was called to be a rent- 
collector for the canons ! Fleecing the flock, and not feeding 
them, was to be his main business ! But he had a very different 
idea. Thanking them for their call, but saying nothing about 
their advice, he gave them his plan: "The life of Christ has 
been too long hidden from the people. I shall preach upon the 
whole gospel of Matthew, chapter after chapter, without human 
commentaries, drawing solely from the fountains of Scripture, 
and seeking understanding by constant and earnest prayer. It is 
to God's glory, to the praise of his only Son, to the real salva- 
tion of souls and to their edification in the true faith that I 
shall devote my ministry. ' ' Preaching was first in his view ; 
the instruction of the people was his great object; as for money, 
he said nothing about it. 

This was new language ; it was that of one who thought of re- 
form. Some testified their joy, others their grief "This way 
of preaching is an innovation," said they. " One new plan will 
lead to another, and where shall we stop?" Canon Hofiman, 
who had been zealous for the election, wished to prevent too 
great changes. Said he, " This explanation of Scripture will be 
more injurious than useful to the people." 

" It is not a new manner," replied the young preacher. " It 
is the old custom. Call to mind the homilies of Chrysostom on 
Matthew, and of Augustine on John. Besides, I will speak with 
moderation, and give no person just cause to complain of it." 
Thus Zwingli proposed to restore the Scriptures to their ancient 
and rightful place. 

Hofi'man having failed in the chapter, wrote a request to the 
provost, asking him to prevent Zwingli from diwSturbing the faith 
of the people. The provost called Zwingli before him and ad- 



80 ULRICH ZWINGLl. 

dressed him very affectionately. But no human power could 
close his lips. He adhered firmly and resolutely to his pur- 
pose. 

On New Year's day, 1519, the thirty-fifth birthday of the 
preacher, Zwingli went into the cathedral pulpit. A great 
crowd, eager to hear the celebrated man, was before him. " It 
is to Christ that I desire to lead you," said he — " to Christ the 
true source of salvation. His divine word is the only food that 
I wish to set before j^our souls." This was the theme of his in- 
augural on Saturday. He then announced that on the following 
day he would begin to expound Matthew's gospel. The next 
morning the preacher and a still larger audience were at their 
posts. He opened the long-sealed book and read the first page. 
He caused his hearers to marvel at that chapter of names. But 
it was the human genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ — patri- 
archs, prophets, kings were mentioned in it — Jewish history was 
summed up therein — and how forcibly did it teach that all the 
preceding ages had existed for the sake of him who was born 
of Mary, and named Immanuel ! And tliere was the name 
Jesus — '* He shall save his people from their sins." The enrap- 
tured auditors went home saying, '* We never heard the like of 
this before !" 

On every Sabbath the people heard what they knew not be- 
fore, as the preacher went on exi)laining Matthew, with a Greek 
Testament before him. He ai>i)lied the gospel to the nature, the 
wants, the sins, the sorrows and the joys of man, with an elo- 
quence that flowed through the channel of prayer. With cour- 
age he spared no one — neither pope, nor emperor, kings, dukes, 
princes, patriots, bishops, priests, laity. With uplifted voice ho 
entreated all to repent, amend their lives, show charity, walk 
humbly and live in prayer and holiness. He extolled the infin- 



A NEW STYLE OF PREACHING. 81 

ite mercies of God and the completeness of Christ's atonement. 
"Let all Zurich place its trust in God." 

The poor and unlearned — peasants, vine-dressers, smiths, 
weavers and shop-keepers — flocked to hear one whom they could 
understand. He respected them. One day a boy came to him 
and told him of a slip of the tongue which caused a wrong ex- 
pression. He was pleased, and said, " We can learn much from 
boys when they are sharp and attentive. ' ' In such ways he won 
the hearts of the common ^people. To reach them he went to the 
market-places on Fridays, and drew multitudes. Myconius re- 
ports that more than two thousand people were soon hungering 
for the ' ' strong meat' ' of the Scriptures. He was often seen in 
the halls where tradesmen met, conversing with them familiarly. 
Peasant and patrician found in him the same cordiality. One of 
his most violent enemies complimented him by trying to abuse 
him, when he said, " He invited the country people to dine with 
him, walked with them, talked to them of God, put the devil in 
their hearts and his books in their pockets. He succeeded so 
well that the notables of Zurich used to visit the peasants, drink 
with them, show them about the city, and pay them every mark 
of attention." 

Poets, orators, statesmen and scholars were equally delighted. 
Many of them had ceased to attend church. ' ' I derive no in- 
struction from the sermons of these priests," Fuesslin, the 
poet, historian and councillor of state, had said. "They do not 
preach the things belonging to salvation, because they know them 
not." He and other distinguished men now listened to one who 
knew the things of God. " Glory be to God !" said they, after 
his first sermon, " this man is a preacher of the truth. He will 
be our Moses, leading us forth from this Egyptian darkness. ' ' 
From that day they upheld the hands of Zwiugli. " Ye mighty 



82 ULRICH ZWINGLT. 

ones of the world, cease to proscribe tlie doctrine of Christ I" 
wru to the poet Fuesslin. ' ' When Christ, the Son of God, had been 
put to death, fishermen rose up to fill his place. And now if 
you destroy the preachers of the truth, you will see glaziers, mil- 
lers, potters, founders, shoemakers and tailors teaching in their 
stead." 

Let us look at the man. He had a powerful frame, a majestic 
countenance, a dignified manner, '*Only look at his portrait," 
saj^s Hagenbach. "Observe this energetic, well-compacted 
head, this marked physiognomy, as if stone carved ; this expan- 
sive forehead, this full clear eye, this compressed mouth, with 
the well-rounded lips." In all this God gave him power. 
"Never," writes Myconius, somewhat extravagantly, "had there 
been seen a priest in the pulpit with such an imposing appear- 
ance and commanding power, so that you were irresistibly led to 
beheve that a man from the apostolic times was standing before 
you." But we could tell our good Oswald that Paul was proba- 
bly a small man, with no very powerful presence. 

" He is too fond of music," certain ones had said at the out- 
set, and if they had lingered about his room they might have 
had some slanderous stories to report on this score. Some did 
call him "the evangelical lute-pla3^er and fifer." The vicar John 
Faber of Constance, came over to see him, and found that his 
old musical habits had not been entirely given uj). He censured 
Zwingli for this taste. *' My dear Faber," was the frank rei)ly, 
"you do not know what music is. True, I have learned to play 
on the lute, tlie violin, and other instruments, and they serve me 
to quiet little children ; but you are too holy for music ! . . . Do 
you not know that David was a skilful player on the harp, and * 
how by this means he drove the evil spirit out of Saul? Ah ! if 
you did but know the sounds of the heavenly lyre, the wicked 



A NEW STYLE OF PREACHING. 83 

spirit of ambition and the love of riclies, which possess you, 
would soon depart from you likewise." Let all who will, regard 
this as a weakness in Zwingli. He set to music some of his 
Christian poems, that others might partake of his joy. 

And perhaps some said, ' ' He studies too much. ' ' Often he 
was reading, writing or translating almost from day-break until 
noon. To Hebrew he gave some of his best hours. When din- 
ing he asked the news or gave kindly advice ; he then walked 
with his friends or visited his flock. At two he resumed his 
studies. In the evening he wrote letters. He always stood up 
at his literary labour, and when engaged would allow none to 
disturb him, except for some very important cause. 

A man named Lucian called on him one day and showed him 
some works of Luther. He wished to go about and sell them to 
the people. Rhenanus of Basle had sent him, saying, "Ascer- 
tain whether this man possesses sufficient prudence and skill : if 
so, let him carry from city to city, from town to town, and 
even from house to house, among the Swiss, the works of 
Luther, especially his exposition of the Lord's Prayer written 
for the laity. The more they are known, the more purchasers 
they will find. But take care not to let him hawk about any 
other books; for if he has only Luther's, he will sell them so 
much the faster. ' ' Lucian had travelled over almost all Switzer- 
land, and he knew nearly everybody. Zwingli set him to work. 
He ought to have put into his basket copies of the New Testa- 
ment. Thus the truth went far and wide into families dwelling 
distant from churches, or in parishes where there were no 
preachers of the gospel tidings. 

On another day Dean Bullinger came riding into town on a 
panting horse, to out-distance the monk Samson, who might be 
making good time on the dapple gray that he had swindled from 



84 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

the rich knight. The dean laid before the Diet his complaints 
against the indulgence-seller, who had excommunicated him. 
He found there some messengers from the bishop, who came on 
the like errand, and he made common cause with them. All 
promised to support him. The spirit of Zwingli animated the 
city. The Reformer had seen the enemy gradually approaching, 
and preached against the indulgences. John Faber had encour- 
aged him, promising him the bishop's support. *'I am aware,'* 
said the pompous Italian, "that Zwingli will speak against me, 
but I will stop his mouth. ' ' The dean would see to that. The 
council of state resolved to oppose his entry in Zurich. Samson 
had already put up at an inn in the suburbs, and laid his 
plans. He would ride into the city and take it. He had one 
foot in the stirrup, when deputies came from the council, offered 
him the honorary cup of wine usually given to the pope's 
envoy, and informed him that he might dispense with entering 
Zurich. The inhabitants did not particularly need him nor his 
wares. 

* ' I have something to communicate to the Diet in the name 
of his holiness," replied the monk. This was a mere trick. It 
was agreed that he should appear. He was cautious ; his crafti- 
ness did not fail him. He spoke of nothing but the papal in- 
dulgences. The councillors reminded him of the affair at Brem- 
gartcn, and compelled him to withdraw the sentence of excom- 
munication pronounced against the dean. He left the hall 
fuming with anger, and shook the dust of Zurich off his feet as 
he turned to other quarters, where deans were not so plenty nor 
councils so authoritative. The pope soon recalled him to Italy. 
'* A wagon drawn by three horses, and laden with the money 
^hat his falsehoods had wrung from the poor, preceded him on 
those steep paths of the St. Gotthard tjiat he had crossed eiglit 



A NEW STYLE OF PREACHING. 85 

montlis before, without money or parade, and burdened with 
only a few papers. ' ' 

Zwingli had not the fierce spiritual conflicts that Luther first 
experienced. He turned more speedily to the great Deliverer. 
"When my heart is troubled because of my helplessness*^ and 
the weakness of my nature, my spirit is revived at the sound of 
these glad tidings: Christ is thy righteousness; Christ is thy 
salvation ; thou art nothing, thou canst do nothing ; Christ is the 
Alpha and Omega; Christ is all things ; he can do all things." 
Thus he gained the victory over himself 

The gospel had its victory over the people. The preaching of 
the Word had such an effect upon the town-council that, as early 
as 1520, they issued a decree to all parish priests, curates and ex- 
horters, in town and country, ' ' that they should freely and every- 
where preach the holy gospels and the apostolic epistles, and all 
speak the same language as the Spirit of God should direct them, 
and only teach what they could prove by the word of God. As 
for the doctrines and commandments that were of man's institu- 
tion, they should let them alone. *^ This ordinance was a proof 
of the first great victory which the followers of the gospel pub- 
licly celebrated at Zurich. It was won by Zwingli on the plan 
of expounding the Scriptures. 




CHAPTEK VIII. 

JPATJRIOTIC LABOUBS. 
(1519-1530.) 

** npHE great love that from my childhood I have borne to my 
-L native country compels me to make known my cares in re- 
gard to its state, lest greater mischief befall us. There is ground 
to fear that the lords, whom we beat with iron and halberd, will 
vanquish us with the touch of gold. ^* Thus spake Zwingli, who 
hoped to reform the evils that had grown out of politics and 
mercenary wars. He felt it a duty to lift up his voice against 
everything that would destroy the union of the cantons. ^' Next 
to my concern for the word of God,'* he wrote, '' the interests of 
the confederation lie nearest my heart. For the longing desire 
of my heart, and the great object of my teaching, have been to 
preserve the confederation, that it might remain as handed down 
to us from our fathers, true to itself and free from service under 
foreign masters, and that the members of it might live together 
in peace and friendship.'' 

In ancient times the Swiss began their battles with prayer,* 



* When kneeling in prayer on the plain of Grandson, the enemy rushed 
upon the army of the Swiss, it being supposed that the posture was a 
token of submission. But the kneeling soldiers were able to use their 
lances to a better advantage against the cavalry, and they gained the vic- 
tory. Thus the Christian bowed in prayer has an advantage over his 
spiritual foes. 
86 



PATRIOTIC LABOURS. 87 

and when they gained a victory they fell on their knees and 
tlianked God for his help. The monuments which they raised to 
commemorate battle-fields were chapels or houses of prayer. 
As the patriotic poacher pointed to these memorials of purer 
times, he said, "The Almighty granted to our ancestors favour 
in his sight, so that they freed themselves from a tyrannous no- 
bility, and lived in concord with one another. They prospered ; 
. while right and justice were so well administered in this land that 
all who were oppressed in foreign coimtries fled hither, as to an 
asylum, for safety." But now the Swiss were going into battle 
for gold, and the monuments of their victories were riches with 
those who took bribes, and poverty with those who ran into ex- 
travagance and dissipation ; loss of patriotism, national weakness, 
dissensions, idleness, immortality and the want of God's favour. 
"Behold! how unlike we are to our ancestors!" exclaimed 
the patriot from his pulpit. ' ' They would not suffbr foreign 
masters in their land, but now we lead them in among us by the 
hand, if they only have money, that a few may get the purse 
while the many get the stripes. And when a pious man has 
brought up a well-doing son, then come the captains and steal 
him away, and he must expose himself to the danger of dying 
by hunger, disease, shot, wounds or murder. And if he reckon 
up his money, he will find that he could have won more at home 
by threshing the harvests which he might have raised, not to 
speak of his being run through with a spear ere the account 
comes to be paid : and at last of all, his poor old father, who has 
brought him up, and whom he should have supported in his old 
age, is reduced to the beggar's staif. But those who get the 
money want for nothing. And when the loss comes, your neigh- 
bour or your neighbour's son must bear it, while they go scot 
free. Although no one can be forced (to enter the foreign 



88 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

service), yet recruiting parties spread themselves over the whole 
land ; then it is seen what young blood will do when it is up. In 
this way we lose our best sons, who for vile money are consumed 
in a foreign land. ... A few become rich, but these so rich that 
they buy oflf the rest, getting hold of their vineyards, fields and 
meadows, and leaving them to poverty, or forcing them to sell 
themselves to foreign masters for wretched pay. 

" Now no one will work to gain a living ; the lands lie waste in . 
many places ; the people are degraded by poverty or unmanned 
by luxury. And yet to work is noble : it saves fi'om wantonness 
and vice ; it yields good fruit, so that a man can richly nourish 
his body without care, and without the fear of sullying himself 
with the blood of the innocent. It makes him hale and strong, 
dissipates diseases engendered by idleness ; and increase follows 
the hand of the worker, as creation came at the first from the 
the hand of the all-working God. Thus there is nothing in the 
universe so like God as the worker. ' ' 

Still fiirther let us hear the patriotic preacher, as he stood like 
a Hebrew prophet to warn the people against such evils as 
Micah and Jeremiah deplored :* " Let each one for himself re- 
flect on the evils of war, and think how it would be w^ith him if 
he were treated as we use our fellow-Christians. Think now 
that a foreign mercenary came into thy land with violence, laid 
waste thy meadows, thy fields, thy vineyards, drove off thy cat- 
tle, seized thy house furniture and carted it away ; in the attack 
slew thy son while defending himself and thee, insulted thy 
daughters, kicked the dear wife of tliy bosom when she went 
before thee and fell at the foci of the foreign soldier, begging for 
mercy toward thee and herself; dragged out thyself, a poor 



* Mic. ii. ; Jcr. ii., v., xxiii. 



PATKIOTIC LABOURS. 89 

worthy old man, from the place where tliou wert crouching in 
fear in thine . own house and home, knocked thee down in the 
presence of thy wife, despite her cries and despite thine own 
trembling, venerable, pleading gray hairs, and then at last set 
fire to thy dwelling and burnt it to the ground ; wouldst thou not 
think within thyself that if the heaven did not open and rain 
fire on such villainy, if the earth did not yawn and swallow up 
such monsters, there were no God ? And yet thou doest all this 
to another, and callest it, forsooth, the right of war!"^ 

" Those who, for truth, religion, justice and native country, 
venture their lives in war are true men, and their cause is sa- 
cred. But as for those bloodthirsty, mercenary soldiers, I am of 
opinion that they deserve to be branded as highway robbers, and 
that they are unworthy of the name of Christians. One danger 
is, that by serving in these foreign wars we thereby draw down 
upon us the wrath of God. Another danger is, that justice be- 
tween man and man will be stopped, as an old proverb says, 
' When arms are up in the hands, laws are under the feet. ' The 
term right of war means nothing but violence [with such mer- 
cenaries] , turn it over as you will. You say, Force must be em- 
ployed to reduce the disobedient. Yea, verily, it were good that 
it went no farther, and that the thunderbolt of war struck only 
those who were disobedient in things lawful. But what do you 
say of the man who sells himself to a foreign master, to rob and 
desolate those who have done him no injury at all ? The gifts of 
these foreign lords (be they bishops or popes, who ought not to 
go to war) blind the eyes of every man, however wise he may be, 



* Zwingli probably drew this vivid picture from his own observation 
when in the Italian campaigns, and there heard soldiers plead "the right 
of war" as their apology for violence and plunder. 



90 ULRICH ZWIXGLI. 

and deprive him of reason as well as piety : as Moses teaches 
' A gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words 
of the righteous.' (Deut. xvi. 19.) 

"And if one should inquire, How are we to deliver ourselves 
from these evils, and return again to union? I answer, By ab- 
staining from selfishness. For if this base passion did not reign 
among us, the confederation were a union of brothers, rather 
than a mere league. If one rejoins to this, ' Selfishness is im- 
planted in the human heart, from whence it cannot be eradicated, 
for God alone can know and change the heart, ^ then I answer, 
Do earnestly that which lies in your power. Where you find it 
punishable punish it, and let it not grow. And that it may be 
rooted out of the very hearts of men, give heed that the divine 
word be faithfully preached. For when God is not in the heart, 
there is nothing but the man himself, and he cares for nothing 
but that which serves his interests, pleasures and lusts. But 
when God possesses the heart, then man has regard to that 
which pleases God, seeks the honour of God and the welfare of 
his fellow-men. Now to have God you must have the know« 
ledge of him. The knowledge of God can come to us in no way 
clearer than from the word of God. Will j'ou tlien have this 
knowledge spread among you, so that you may live in peace 
and in the fear of God ? Then see to it that the word of God 
is purely preached according to its natural sense, unadulterated 
by the glosses and inventions of man." 

Thus Zwingli i)reachcd that the gos])ol was the only remedy 
for the evils under which his country groaned. He ai)plied 
Christianity to politics. He wished patriotism to be tempered 
with piety. He sought to draw his countrymen from the lovo 
of gold to the love of God and of father-land. Let the foreign 
kings fight their own battles, but let tin' Swiss stay at homo, evil- 



PATRIOTIC LABOURS. 91 

tivate their lands, tend their flocks, toil in their shops, rear 
their families in the fear of God, obey their laws, cherish 
brotherhood, preserve peace in their cantons, strengthen 
their confederation, reform the abuses in the Church, and 
in all things be governed by the Word that came down from 
heaven. 

Francis I. was seeking again to enlist the Swiss youth 
against the pope and form a treaty with the confederation. The 
treaty was presented to the Swiss people in the usual corrupt 
fashion, by bribing the leading men in each canton. One can- 
ton after another signed it. All of them joined the French 
alliance except Zurich: she stood aloof, to the surprise of her 
neighbours. What strange spell had fallen upon her statesmen ? 
What power had baffled French intrigue and resisted French 
bribery? It was the spirit and power of the gospel. Zwingli's 
sermons had awakened the conscience and inspired a new kind 
of patriotism. They had led most of the bailiffs and burgo- 
masters to say, " We must adopt a new policy, and have nothing 
to do with foreign politics. We must triumph over selfishness 
and profligacy — save our young men from vice and our country 
from ruin." 

Glorious was the victory which the word of God achieved on 
the field of patriotism. Zwingli had won the day in the city ; 
but what would the men of the canton say ? The council ad- 
dressed them a letter, probably written by Zwingli, asking them 
to give their views on the question of foreign service. One voice 
came fiom the entire canton : the government should act on the 
pi-inciples of their forefathers and have nothing to do with for- 
eign masters, whether they were kings or cardinals, the emperor 
or the pope. 

*' Zwingli is interfering in politics; he is intermeddling with 



92 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

the affairs of the confederation," cried his enemies, especially in 
the other cantons. 

" Not at all," replied his friends. '' He would have us keep 
clear of all foreign politics, and devote our attention to religion 
and to reform." 

Cardinal Schinner appeared in 1521, urging that the men of 
the Swiss cantons had bound themselves in 1515 to aid the pope 
and defend the Church. Would Zurich abide by this former 
treaty? Zwingli's advice was asked. Said he, " What a people 
have once promised to do they are bound to perform, unless God 
shows them a fair method of escape from the alliance. But let 
them take care never to enter into such a treaty again. I believe 
there is an escape. The cardinal has employed intrigue and bri- 
bery to gain his end, which were expressly forbidden by the 
treaty. He has broken the conditions ; we are not bound to the 
alliance. I would that the pai)al treaty had a hole burnt in it, 
and that the papal legate were bound on a board with his back 
to it and carried home. If a wolf comes into a land every one 
is up to kill the beast or drive it away ; but against the wolves 
that devour the people no one will fight. They [the cardinals] 
are very properly dressed in red caps and cloaks ; for if they be 
shaken, then out drop ducats and crowns: but if they be wrung, 
then out flows the blood of thy son, brother, father and friend." 

** Hasten on the affair before the parson gets into his pulpit," 
said the crafty legate of the pope. The council confessed them- 
selves bound by the papal treaty. The Zurichers marched to 
the lielp of the pope. The other confederates marched to the 
aid of the king of France, and were beaten along with the 
French. Zurich was thus arrayed against the other cantons, 
although her men were not in the battle. Thus a new ground 
of (Munity was laid between Zurich and the other confederates. 



PATRIOTIC LABOURS. 93 

The blame was charged upon Zwingli, who had spoken against 
the foreign service to either party. The patriotic preacher ral- 
Ued the men of his canton. At his instance the clergj^, laity, 
magistrates and citizens were brought to take an oath that 
henceforth they would no longer accept gifts, pensions or annu- 
ities from foreign princes. He' had already ceased to draw the 
pension which had been urged upon him, although at that very 
time his income was too small to support him in comfort. When 
conscience regulates a man's money affairs, it is of some account. 
In all this the Bible was the great power, as it was brougiit to 
bear upon the people through the sermons of Zwingli. "What- 
ever lies may be told," said he, "the sole cause of the abolition 
of the mercenarj^ service under foreign princes, in the canton 
of Zurich, in town and country, was the word of God.^^ We 
see that one motive which urged Zwingli to labour for a Refor- 
mation was the love of his country. Not yet did he feel the 
strong enthusiasm for justification by faith which Luther mani- 
fested ; not yet was he moved forward by the powerful affection 
for the Church which Calvin afterward exhibited ; but he 
burned with love for his father-land, and to remedy the evils 
which were destroying his countrymen he faithfully applied the 
word of God. In this respect he was a true Swiss, with his 
native country on his heart. God gives to men different mo- 
tives : Zwingli was first moved by true patriotism. No two great 
men are alike; each has "his proper gift of God ;" each has 
his own individuality. 




CHAPTER IX. 

THE SCHOOL OF THE CROSS, 
(1510-1530.) 

BEFORE the Jamina pours into the Rhine it meets with a 
tremendous fall, making a frightful gorge, where is one of 
the most extraordinary scenes in all Switzerland. So deep and 
narrow is it that the sun shines into it only about five hours a 
day. The visitor seems to be at the bottom of a well or a mine. 
It was once the custom to let invalids down into it with ropes 
from the brink of the cliffs, to gain health from the mineral 
springs. It became a watering-place of great resort. Thou- 
sands sought relief at the baths of Pfeffers. Down into this 
''infernal gulf," as Daniel the hermit called it, our Reformer 
must go and learn how low he must descend into the valley of 
humiliation. 

Zwingli did not spare himself, and in the toils and anxieties of 
his first year at Zurich he lost his health. He was advised to 
repair to the baths of Pfeffers. Many were sorry to be deprived 
of his genial visits and his sermons on Matthew, the canon Hoff- 
man not being among them. One young student, Herus, who 
lived at his house, vented his feelings by saying, " Oh ! had I a 
hundred tongues, a hundred mouths and a voice of iron, as 
Virgil says, or rather had I the eloquence of Cicero, how could I 
express all that I owe to you and the pain this separation causes 

mc?'^ The jKistor departed, perhaps took Wesen on his way, 
94 



h 



THE SCHOOL OF THE CROSS. 95 

and descended to the old baths in Eastern Switzerland. In tlie 
house where he lodged it was necessary to burn the lamps at 
midday. The superstitious were ever seeing ghosts and "moun- 
tain spirits' ' in the spray and the gloom. The fire of truth was 
still burning in Zwingli's heart. He let his light shine and 
served his Master, a thing said to be not always true of profess- 
ing Christians at a watering-place. His afiable spirit won the 
hearts of many of the invalids, as he pointed them to the Great 
Physician who healed the infirm at the pool of Bethesda. Among 
th'em was Philip Egentius, the poet and professor at Friburg in 
Brisgau, who from that time declared himself for the Refor- 
mation. 

In a few days painful news came to him. The great death 
had appeared in Zurich. Travelling from the east, it had passed 
over him, hidden down in the shadow of the rocks. It was 
proving "the scourge of God," the terror of Europe, and where 
could he be safer from it than amid the spray of the Jamina ? 
But the unselfish pastor thought chiefly of his flock. He must 
hasten home, likely as he was to be the victim of the plague. If 
Chateaubriand had known of this and thousands of similar 
cases, he would have given a better turn to his eloquent period 
than to say, "The Protestant pastor abandons the necessitous 
on the bed of death, and never risks his life in the midst of 
the pestilence." 

Zwingli found his house deserted V^ all the young men who 
had lived and studied with him, except his youngest brother 
Andrew, who had waited for his return. He sent Andrew imme- 
diately to Wildhaus, that he might escape "the death." With 
heroic courage he went from house to house, devoting himself 
entirely to the victims of the frightful scourge. Every day he 
proclaimed the messages and consolations of Christ to the sick 



96 UI.KICH ZWINGLI. 

and the d^dng. In the pulpit he so preached that he raised the 
hearts of the terrified congregation with the invitations of Jesus 
to the heavy-laden and the promises treasured up in the Word 
of life. His faithful parishioners trembled for their pastor, as 
they saw him moving about among the shafts of death and 
bearing to them the cup of salvation. His devotion was talked 
of by friends at a distance. Two thousand five hundred people 
were swept away in a short time, and they were alarmed for him. 
Conrad Brunner of Wesen, soon to die of the plague, wrote to 
him from Basle, saying, "Do your duty, but at the same timte 
remember to take care of your own life. ' ' 

The caution came too late: Zwingli was attacked by '^the 
great death." Switzerland seemed about to lose her mightiest 
preacher, Zurich her j^a trio tic llefbrmer, his flock their best 
earthly friend. Dr. Hedio of Basle was tliinking sadly of the 
possible result of * ' the murderous disease ; for who would not 
grieve if the saviour of his country, if the trumpet of the gos- 
pel, if the courageous herald of the truth should be stricken 
down in the prime of life, high in hope and in the midst of his 
usefulness." The thoughts of Zwingli were turned inward ; his 
eyes upward to heaven. His meditations and prayers were af- 
terward recorded in poetry, whose rhythm and quaintness D'Au- 
bigne has preserved in his version : 

Lo !^t the door 

I hear death's knock ! 
Shield mo, Lord, 

My strength and rock. 
Thy hand once nailed 

Upon the tree, 
Jesus, uplift, 

And shelter me. 



THE SCHOOL, OF THE CROSS. 97 

Wiliest thou then, 

Death conquer me, 
In my own noon-day ? 

So let it be! 
Oh ! may I die, 

Since I am thine : 
3?hy home is made 

For faith like mine. 

Canon Hoffman was so bound to his creed that he could not 
bear the idea of seeing Zwingli die in the errors which he had 
preached. He said to Felix Frey, the provost of the chapter, 
' ' Think of the danger to which his soul is exposed. Has he 
not called all the doctors of the last three hundred and eighty 
years and more, innovators — such men ,as Albertus Magnus, 
Bonaventure, Aquinas and all the canonists? Does he not 
maintain that their doctrines are mere visions which they dreamt 
in their cowls within the walls of their cloisters ? Alas ! it would 
have been better for the city of Zurich had Zwingli ruined our 
vintage and our harvest for many years ! Now he is at the door 
of death. . . . I entreat you to save his poor soul!'' The pro- 
vost does not seem to have thought that Zwingli' s soul would be 
endangered by any of the opinions which so alarmed his brother 
canon, and he made no effort to induce him to recant. 

Day and night were prayers ascending to Grod from the dis- 
tressed believers for their pastor's recovery. No letter went 
from him to Wildhaus, where several persons had died in the 
village, and among them a servant of his brother Nicholas. The 
pestilence was threatening the valley of the Tockenburg. An- 
drew Zwy;igli wrote : "Tell me in what state you are, my dear 
brother. The abbot and all our brothers sahite thee. " As no 
mention is made of his parents, it is presumed that they were 



98 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

dead. The report went abroad, far and near, that the Zurich 
Reformer had fallen in death. The city of Basle was full of lam- 
entations. The university felt the deepest sorrow. ' ' Whom 
the gods love, die young," said they in classic not in gospel 
phrase. But the Lord heard the prayers of his people, the 
1)1 ague forsook its victim, and at one time he could write with 
emotions of gi^atitude : 

My God, my Sire, 

Healed by thy hand, 
Upon the earth 

Once more I stand. 
From g'uilt and sin 

May I be free ! 
My mouth shall sing 

Alone of thee. 

The uncertain hour 
^ For me will come, 

O'erwhelmed perchanoe 

With deeper gloom. 
It matters not ! 

With joy I'll bear 
My yoke until 

I reach heaven's sphere. 

A letter went to Wildhaus with the jo^^ful tidings. Young 
Collin bore the news to Basle, and Hedio wrote : **Like a sud- 
denly appearing angel of consolation came Rudolph Collin, as- 
suring us that we had no cause to be cast down, for you were 
safe." Wilibald Pirkheimer, of Nurnburg, wrote: *'Let us sing 
praises to God, who strikes and heals again the wounds^ who kills 
and makes alive, and who has called back your soul from the 
grave." His unmusical fellow-student, John Faber, still his 



THE SCHOOL OF THE CROSS. 99 

friend, wrote from Constance, expressing his joy and love : 
"Nothing in this world would pain mc more than the tidings 
that any calamity had befallen you, which God, in his mercy, 
avert. And this love you well deserve, for you work with such 
zeal in the vineyard of the Lord that when you are in danger a 
calamity impends the community. The Lord himself knows, 
however, whom he will stir up by bitter trials to a more earnest 
striving and a better and more enduring inheritance. Such a 
trial you have experienced from your heavenly Father. ' ' From 
regions more remote came such letters, refreshing to his spirit. 

Zwingli went into his pulpit still feeble and scarcely able to 
preach. ' ' The plague has so weakened my memory and intel- 
lect," he wrote to Myconius, "that in preaching I sometimes 
altogether lose the thread of my discourse. All my members 
are oppressed with a languor that I cannot describe. ' ' This was 
not all ; his salary was so small that he was under a burden of 
embarrassments. He could not support himself and his two as- 
sistants. Gifts might have poured in, but he would not accept 
them. He half resolved to resign his position, which would 
have delighted Canon Hoffman, and retire to Einsidlen. A 
noble act on the part of a friend saved him to Zurich. Doctor 
Englehard, a canon, resigned his place and income in favour of 
the Reformer, making him a canon as well as cathedral preacher. 
Thus Zwingli gained a support and greater influence among the 
canons, which was the more desirable, since certain of these 
clerical gentlemen kept a suspicious eye upon him. They had 
made a noise because he did not act more zealously as a revenue 
collector, a sort of publican in the service of those Pharisees. 
"Indeed," said they, "instead of urging his hearers to pay 
their tithes as a religious duty, he denies their divine origin alto- 
gether, and represents their strict exaction as a tyranny. He 



100 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

thereby seeks to gain tlie confidence of the j^cople in the same 
measure that he makes the monks hated and desi)ised as mere 
cap-divines." Since death had not taken him from them, they 
and their sympathizers began to prepare thorns for his dis- 
comfort. 

The Lord had led his servant nearer to himself that he might 
have the privileges of a son. D'Aubigne says: " This pestilence 
of 1519, which committed such frightful ravages in the north of 
Switzerland, was, in the hands of God, a powerful means of con- 
verting many souls. But on no one did it exercise so powei-ful 
an influence as on Zwingli. The gospel, which had hitherto been 
too much regarded by him as a mere doctrine, now became a 
great reality. He arose from the darkness of the sepulchre with 
a new heart. His zeal became more active, his life more holy, 
his preaching more free, more Christian, more powerful. This 
was the epoch of Zwingli's complete emancipation; henceforward 
he consecrated himself entirely to God. But the Reformation 
of Switzerland received a new life at the same time as the Refor- 
mer. The scourge, the great deaths as it swept over these moun- 
tains and descended into the valleys, gave a holier character to 
the movement that was taking place. The Reformation, as well 
as Zwingli, was baptized in the waters of affliction and of grace, 
and came forth purer and more vigorous. It was a memo- 
rable day in the counsels of God for the regeneration of this 
people.*' 

One of the happiest men in Zurich was Oswald M3Tonius, and 
one of the least likely to remove. True, he had embarrass- 
ments; but his cheerful wife was a helper meet for all trying 
circumstances, and to be near to Zwingli was a privilege worth 
no little endurance. They were bound together in strongest fel- 
lowship, walking in reliance on each other, like Luther and Me- 



THE SCHOOL OF THE CROSS. 101 

lancthon. Yet there was a finger often pointing him to a new 
field. It was that of the Canon Xyloctect, who invited Oswald 
to return to his native place. ' ' Zurich is not your country, ' ' 
said the canon ; "it is Lucerne. You tell me that the Zurichers 
are your friends : I do not deny it. But do j^ou know what will 
be the end of it ? Serve your own country : this I would advise 
you, entreat you, and, if I may, command you." 

It is said that more than a thousand years ago the boatmen 
used to see a lantern [lucerna) hanging by the water's edge to 
show them the landing, and hence the town was called Lucerne. 
Oswald saw a light inviting him to set foot in the city and there 
plant the gospel. But would it ever become other than the dark 
lantern of popery? 

Soon Oswald was informed that he was appointed head-master 
of the collegiate school at Lucerne. It was the canon's work. 
Oswald no longer hesitated, for he saw in it the finger of God. 
Perhaps a schoolmaster might be the humble means of intro- 
ducing the gospel doctrines of peace into the warlike city of Lu- 
cerne. Sad and tearful was the parting of Zwingli and his 
friend. It was just when the Beformer was weak and almost 
worn out, and after Oswald had gone, that he wrote to him say- 
ing, " Your departure has inflicted a blow on the cause I am de- 
fending, like that suficred by an army in battle array when one 
of its wings is destroyed. Alas ! I now feel all the value of my 
Myconius, and how often, without my knowing it, he has upheld 
the cause of Christ!" , 

"What is your opinion of Luther's cause?" inquired Myco- 
nius of his friend. "As for me, I have no fear, either for the 
gospel or for him. If God does not protect his truth, who shall 
defend it ? All that I ask of the Lord is, that he will not with- 
draw his hand from those who hold nothing dearer than his 



102 ULBICH ZWIXGLI. 

gospel. Continue as you have begun, and an abundant reward 
shall be conferred upon you. ' ' 

The Reformer must travel through the country if he was to 
advance the Reformation. One day his former teacher, George 
Bingli, came over from Wesen, where he succeeded the good par- 
son Bartholomew. It was the first week in 1 520. ' ' Let us go 
to Basle," said the visitor, ''and see how the brethren do." 
They went and were welcomed. Zwingli electrified his friends 
by his powerful language. Capito learned how Zwingli had 
expounded the Scriptures ; he began a similar work, took up 
Matthew's gospel and had an increasing audience. The hearers 
hailed the revival of Christianity. But his zeal and popularity 
roused opposition. A conspiracy of monks and priests was soon 
formed against Capito in Basle. They might drive him thence, 
but they could not destroy him. 

At Mentz [Mayence] the young Albert, cardinal-archbishop 
was desirous of attaching to himself so great a scholar, and he 
invited Capito to his court. The learned man, seeing great hin- 
drances at Basle, resolved to accept the invitation. The matter 
got abroad ; the people were excited ; they protested against 
losing their preacher ; their indignation was roused against the 
priests, and a violent commotion broke out in the city. ''Let 
him go," said some. "We can have Hedio." 

*'He is too young," certain ones replied. "He is Capito's 
disciple," said others. But this arrangement was effected. The 
new preacher l)egan his work. « 

"The truth stings; it is not safe to wound tender cars by 
preaching it," said Hedio. "But it matters not. Nothing shall 
ni:iko me swerve from the right road." 

The monks redoubled their efforts, saying, from the pulpit, 
" Do not believe those wlio tell you that the snni of Christian 



THE SCHOOL OF THE CROSS. 103 

doctrine is found in the gospel and in St. Paul. Scotus has been 
of more service to Christianity than St. Paul himself. All the 
learned things that have ev^r been said or printed were stolen 
from Scotus. All that these hunters after glory have been able 
to do is merely to add a few Greek and Hebrew words to obscure 
the whole matter. ' ' 

Zwingli did much to strengthen the hands and hearts of these 
two assistant Reformers, not only by his visit, but afterward by 
letters. On his return, John Glother, of Basle, thanked him for 
the good he had received, saying: "Never can I forget you. 
You came to see me^ — me a poor schoolmaster, an obscure man, 
without learning or merit and of low estate." Andrew Zwingli 
died of the plague in 1520; and the Reformer wept "the tears 
of a woman" over his beloved brother. 

The Reformer needed both rest and help ; he was to find each 
at Baden. The priest at this watering-place had once been one 
of the pope's guards, and had purchased his benefice by carrying 
the battle-axe. He was a kind-hearted man, but so fond of jovial 
company that he used to spend most of his time in jesting and 
revelling with bad men. His curate Stahel performed faithfully 
all the duties of the parish-priest. Zwingli was pleased with 
him, and said: "I have need of Swiss helpers." Stahel became 
his fellow-labourer, dwelling in his house, and soon having reason 
to watch night and day in defence of the Reformer. 

" Since the plague did not carry ofi* Zwingli, we must see what 
we can do to crush him," thought some of his enemies. The 
worst foes were the monks and the mercenaries. The monks had 
been ordered by the council to preach only the word of God. 
They were confounded ; most of them had never read it and all 
of them hated it. The mercenaries were angry because Zwingli 
had made the foreign service so unpopular, and induced the cit- 



104 ULRICH ZWIXGLF. 

izens to take an oath not to have aught more to do with bribes 
and pensions. Certain men were bent upon having these orders 
and these oaths repealed or creating a revolution. But to others 
there seemed to be a shorter method : remove Zwingli, and the 
old style of affairs would be restored. Plots began to be formed. 
The basest slanders were invented and circulated, in order to 
blast Zwingli' s character, check the preaching of the gospel and 
drive him from the city. Several barons and noblemen, who had 
heard him at Einsidlen and supported his cause at Zurich, were 
turned against him by the calumnies of the priests. What he 
thought may be learned from his own words : "I have for some 
time past heard incredible lies told about me, but this has not 
grieved me, for I have always kept in mind that ' the disciple is 
not greater than the Master.' If they lied against Christ, it is 
no wonder that they lie against thee, Ulrich Zwingli." These 
slanders recoiled upon the monks like arrows turned back by an 
invisible hand. His death was now resolved upon. Poison or 
the poniard must free them from the witness of the truth. 
Myconius says : ''After the temporary defeat of the priests and 
monks in Zurich, and the passing of the resolutions against pen- 
sions, it was by artifice that they schemed to get rid of their 
hated opponent." 

An anonymous letter came from Swabia to him, and Zwingli 
read the warning : '* If ever thou caredst for thy life, care for it 
now, for traps and snares are laid for thee ; they encompass thee 
on every side ; ihatli hy jioisnn lies ready to take thee out of the 
way. ... Be on thy guard, then. Out of thy house thou canst 
not safely eat anything. The priest who told me this dare not 
assert it plainly nor wi'ite it with impunity. Thy shrewd mind 
will lead thee to guess whence this warning comes. Whoever I 
am, T am thine : thou shalt afterward know me." It was after- 



THE SCHOOL OF THE CROSS. 105 

ward known tliat the writer was Michael Hummelberger of 
Ravensburg. 

On the next day after this letter was received, just as Stahel 
was entering the Water church, a chaplain stopped him, sajdng : 
"Leave Zwingli's house forthwith ; a catastrophe is at hand." 
The faithful assistant was not to be thus driven from his work. 
Assassins are likely to appear whenever a great movement is 
shaking human society, overthrowing old customs, changing old 
opinions and bringing in a new order of things. But the leaders 
are in God's hands, and he gives them courage for the crisis. 

"We often had such alarms as these," said Stahel, "but we 
were well armed, and a patrol was stationed in the street to pro- 
tect us. ' ' It was the habit of Zwingli at this time to sup with a 
friend or in the guild-hall, and some of the trustworthy citizens 
attended him home without telling him their fears. The council 
took measures to guard his house. Yet more than all these, was 
the eye of the sleepless Lord and the good hand of God upon 
him. 

"There was not an hour," wrote Myconius, "that did not 
give birth to some deep-laid plot among the laity and priests 
against the life of the apostle of truth and righteousness. I pass 
over those not known to the world, though well known to myself. 
Once there came a man at midnight, calling him to visit a person 
dying. The assistant answered that Zwingli could not be roused 
from his sleep, for he was greatly fatigued by the previous day's 
labours : he himself [Stahel no doubt] would go instead. The 
man would not permit this on any account. The suspicion of 
the assistant was aroused ; the door was shut in the face of the 
stranger. - Next day it was found that Zwingli was to have been 
seized, gagged, thrown into a boat and carried away. Not long 
after a horse was kept for a like purpose. . . . Two drunken 



106 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

Zuriehers, whom I do not name, once attacked his house in the 
night, dashed in the windows and took possession, making such 
a noise that not one of the neighbours dared to enter. The bur- 
gomaster quelled the uproar, but the two men were not to be 
found. Search was made in the morning, the city gates were 
shut, every corner was spied into, but all seemed in vain until 
some women betrayed one of them. He was drawn out of the 
wine-cask of a certain priest, and led to prison amid the loud re- 
proaches of the people. He would have been imprisoned for 
life, had not the Bernese interceded for him." 

It was amid such scenes that Zwingli wrote to Myconius: 
* ' Let not your courage sink. There will not fail in our days men 
who will preach Christ fully, even though they know beforehand 
that, as it happened long ago, they will be blasphemed after 
death as heretics, traitors and villains. As for me, I expect for 
myself, as a victim devoted to death, the worst from all clergy as 
well as laity ; and I pray to Christ for grace to meet whatever may 
befal me with manly courage, and that he may either uphold me 
or break me in pieces, as may seem good to him. ... If I held it 
allowable to boast, I should rejoice to suifer shame for the name 
of Christ. Yet let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest 
ho fall/' 



CHAPTER X. 

ANNA RBINHAMjy AND MJEB HOMJE. 
(1530-X534..) 

THE true story of Anna Reinhard is full of romantic interest. 
A poor child of plebeian family, she never expected to out- 
rival the rich daughter of a nobleman. A certain noble damsel 
in Thurgau was pointed out as worthy of the hand of John 
Meyer von Knonau, a young man of aristocratic birth who had 
been brought up at the court of his relative, the bishop of Con- 
stance. His father, who dwelt in his castle not far from Zurich, 
insisted upon the match. But he had a choice of his own. The 
surpassing beauty, the amiable spirit, the spotless character and 
the winning excellence of Anna Reinhard were all that he wished 
in a wife. In these was true nobility. Unknown to his father 
and against his will, they were married in the rustic parish church 
where she lived. At this step the old gentleman was so enraged 
that he forbade his son his house, refused him all support, and, as 
far as the laws of Zurich would permit, disinherited him. 

John Meyer struggled on at Zurich, full of heart and happy 
at home, in due time enrolling the name of little Gerold and his 
two sisters on his family record. The gold of some agent, prob- 
ably Cardinal Schinner, tempted him in his poverty, and he 
entered the mercenary service. For aught we know, he marched 
with the army in which Zwingli was chaplain, and he died in 

1515, perhaps at Marignan. 

107 



108 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

Anna regarded her three little children as the priceless memo- 
rials of her husband, and lived solely for their education. 
Grandfather Meyer would have nothing to do with them, for he 
seemed pitiless, heartless, inexorable. 

But one day the young widow's servant went with Gerold, a 
sprightly boy of three years, to the fish-market. At an inn sat 
the grandfather talking with some friends and looking out of the 
window. Seeing the child sitting in a basket, and acting in such 
good-humour as to draw all eyes upon him, the old gentleman 
inquired : ''Whose handsome child is that?" 

''It is your son's," was the reply. 

"Bring him tome," said the grandfather, whose heart was 
touched, and all its ice melted in a moment. He kissed the boy, 
went home with him, greeted x\nna as a daughter, and from 
that hour behaved as a good grandfather. Unhappily, the old 
man died soon after ; yet happily for the widow and her children 
he did not leave them so large a legacy as to divert them from 
the path along which God was leading them to the riches of the 
gospel. It seems that they had a comfortable home in Zurich. 

Gerold Meyer soon attracted the attention of Zwingli, when he 
became the kind pastor in the city. The Reformer became very 
fond of liim, directed him in his education, and in 1521 sent him 
to Basle. There Gerold studied under teachers who loved the 
gospel, and sat under the preaching of men who proclaimed it. 
But he did not find Gaspar Hedio, whom we left as the successor 
of Capito. The archbishop Albert had taken Capito with him 
to attend the coronation of Charles V., and Hedio had gone 
to fill his place at Mcntz. Basle thus lost her most faithful 
preachers. But William Rubli drew four thousand people to 
hear him, and young Gerold may have been among them. The 
preacher attacked the doctrines of the mass, purgatory and the 



ANNA REINHARD AND HER HOME. 109 

invocation of saints, yet he did not so boldly preach the way of 
salvation. He was fond of making a parade of his boldness. 
On the festival of Corpus Christi he joined the great procession, 
but instead of carrying the usual relics he had borne before him 
a copy of the Holy Scriptui-es, handsomely bound, and inscribed 
in large letters with the words, *'The Bible: this is the true 
relic. All others are but dead men's bones." 

The enraged priests accused Rubli before the council. A vast 
crowd was gathered at the spot. '' Protect our preacher," said 
the citizens to the council. Fifty ladies of influence interposed 
in his favour : he was released, but was compelled to leave Basle. 
About this time he sought to attract attention and exhibit his 
contempt for the priests by taking to himself a wife, which the 
council of Zurich allowed him to do. Zwingli had persuaded 
the council to grant such permissions. Bubli was the first who 
ventured to accept the opportunity, but others soon followed his 
example. This was an important step in the Reformation ; and 
although Zwingli did not intend thus to pave the way for him- 
self, yet there was a force in circumstances under the hands of a 
wise Providence. 

Anna Reinhard had been one of his first and most attentive 
hearers. She lived near him, and he could not fail to notice her 
modest worth, her piety and her affection for her children. No 
woman in Zurich had been more respected. Her boy Grerold had 
become Zwingli' s son in the faith. The Reformer regarded mar- 
riage ''as a most holy alliance;" but the usual public displays 
and ceremonies in confirming it were all folly to him, and were 
not required by the word of God. He may have felt that the 
Romish Church was wrong in making marriage a sacrament, 
but he was fearful of reproach and of the fierce enmity of the 

priests. He resolved to marry Anna, but he would not have it 

10 



110 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

publicly celebrated. This private luarriage occurred about the 
first of the year 1522. It was no secret among either his friends 
or foes. Myconius, in July, 1522, salutes him and his wife. He 
lived in the house of Anna, who regarded it as his own. His 
enemies did not reproach him, nor accuse him of any wrong, nor 
cite him before the council and the church courts. They were 
ready to catch at the most absurd stories to vilify him, but on 
this occasion they were silent — a proof that he did not deserve 
their censure. Thus the Reformer gave no offence at the time ; 
and Anna, who was yet "to be more cruelly tried than any 
woman recorded in history," was spared the sword of the slan- 
derous tongue. It was reserved for later enemies to make their 
sacred union a subject of reproach and misrepresentation. But 
a public acknowledgment of their naarriage vows was certainly 
very desirable. When he felt that such a step would give no 
offence to his parishioners, and would serve to confirm the prin- 
ciples that he had preached, he at once had the marriage pub- 
licly celebrated in the cathedral. It was on the 2d of April, 1524. 
The event gave great joy to his friends, at home and abroad. 

Anna was devoted to the work of reform. She laid aside hor 
silks and jewels, or disposed of them in aid of the poor, and 
attired herself as an ordinary burgher's or tradesman's wife. 
While Zwingli was such an economist of time, she was prudent 
in the management of their scanty income. Yet there was no 
lack of the most open-hearted hospitality and of attention to the 
sick and the needy. She proved what Capito had wished at the 
wedding: "That she might be a fellow-servant in the Word, a 
helpmeet of an apostle." By her sympathies and her activity 
she greatly lightened the heavy burden of cares that was laid 
upon the heart of the Beformer. 

In the faiiiilv eircle Zwinali was not the thinker with the Jiown 



ANNA REINHARD AND HER HOME. Ill 

of a scholar upon him. He was all heart and tenderness toward 
his family, and as fond as ever of music. For the benefit of his 
step-son, Gerold, he wrote and had printed a work on education, 
in which he says : *' The human mind is like a garden, which is 
soon overgrown with weeds if it be not cultivated. From youth 
up it nmst be tilled with care. If this be done, a rich harvest is 
reaped ; but where this is not done, neither hand, nor eye, nor 
tongue is put under control, and the man is an ill-regulated 
being. Orphans often turn out badly because they have no one 
to train and educate them. . . . 

"Satan desires to nestle in the hearts of the j'^oung, and to 
defile these as yet pure vessels. Wherefore the greatest care is 
required in training them in the fear of the Lord, that these 
new vessels may be filled with good habits and principles. . . . 

*'Many busy themselves in hanging their likenesses every- 
where, that their names may be made famous and their family 
become illustrious, while they, at the same time, neglect and des- 
pise God's image and the true living images of themselves. . . . 

" The peasant has an eye to order, and he takes care to plant 
in one place trees, in another vines, here willows, there corn, so 
that his grounds may yield all sorts of fruits. If parents and 
teachers bestowed the same care upon the training of the youth- 
ful mind, we should see it in a better state in our day. . . . The 
vine, like eYery other training plant, lays hold of everything 
that comes in its way, fastens to it and winds itself about it. 
Thus it finds a supix)rt. The father is such a support to his 
children — the tree about which they grow. Parents, then, should 
be careful in their education." 

The house of Anna Zwingli, left her, probably, by the repent- 
ant grandfather Mej^er, was the general resort and gathering- 
place of the friends of the Reformation, There they had their 



112 ULRICII ZWINGLI. 

genial hours, their fragrant wit, their literary conversations, 
their confidential disclosures, their serious discussions, their fer- 
vent prayers, their social happiness. The gray-headed veteran, 
Roust, came in to talk over the Italian campaigns, to refresh his 
courage in the work of reform and to give an impulse to young 
Gerold, who began to devote to the service of the State the fine 
talents which gave the brightest promise of future distinction. 
Werner Steiner, who was forced to leave his native canton of 
Zug, found a new home among friends that were dear to him. 
Leo Juda and his bride, Catharine, who had been a nun at Ein- 
sidlen, and perhaps one of those whom the good manager 
Geroldsek had allowed to go home, were frequent visitors. 
Zwingli was always glad to sing again with the lovable, cour- 
ageous man whom he jocularly called "his little lion," and who 
was uttering a powerful voice in Zui'ich. 

Musical entertainments were set on foot by Zwingli. He 
taught select circles of his friends to manage both the voice and 
the instrument, and parties met in each other's houses for song. 
As citizens and peasants took their domestic habits from Ulrich 
and Anna Zwingli, they formed musical circles in their houses. 
Thus arose the fine quartette in the Swiss cottages and the choir 
in the Swiss churches, and these became the leaders of Christian 
song among the Reformed. Where so much attention was given 
to sacred music at their homes, the people could not fail to be- 
come good singers in the congregation. 

From the far distance certain exiles and friends of the gospel 
were coming as pilgrims to this sanctuary. "What a piebald 
liost of men from the various countries of Europe received lib- 
eral supplies for body and soul in the sim)>le house of the parish 
priest at the Great Minster !'* The poor were fed, the oppressed 
cheered ; all were pointed to the source of truth and urged on to 



ANNA REINHARD AND HER HOME. 113 

noble endeavours. Ulricli, the duke of Wirtemburg, a cruel 
prince, had been expelled from his dominions ; he sojourned for 
a time in Zurich, attended Zwingli's preaching and became a 
guest at his board. The hard heart grew tender, and in its 
mellow soil the good word took root. This man, whose family 
excited the interest of all Europe, went to Montbeliard in France, 
and opened the way for Farel to proclaim the gospel there with 
heroic energy."^ One Reformer was thus ever helping another. 
Let us trace the steps of a valiant knight — the bitterest enemy 
of the duke Ulrich. 

A lad of eleven j^ears entered the convent of Foulda to become 
a monk. He was Ulrich von Hutten, descended from an ancient 
family in Franconia. He became disgusted with monkery, ran 
away from the convent at the age of sixteen and went to the 
university of Cologne, where he devoted himself to the study of 
languages and poetry. Somewhat later he led a wandering life, 
and was present as a common soldier at the siege of Padua in 
1513. He saw E>ome, noticed her scandalous abuses, and there 
sharpened those arrows which he afterward shot into her ranks. 
On his return to Germany he wrote a book against Eome, en- 
titled ' ' The Roman Trinity. " In it he says : * ' There are three 
things that are usually brought away from Rome : a bad con- 
science, a disordered stomach and an empty purse. There are 
three things in which Rome does not believe : the immortality 
of the soul, the resurrection of the dead and hell. There are 
three things in which Rome traffics : the grace of Christ, eccle- 
siastical dignities and women." The publication of this work 
compelled him to leave the court of the archbishop of Mentz, 
where he had composed it. 

But the knight of the pen was not to be silenced. He and 

* Of this we have treated in " William Farel." 
10 * 



114 UI.RICH ZWINGLI. 

several literary gentlemen formed a learned league, and pub- 
lished the famous ScXtire called ''The Letters of Obscure Men." 
It poured forth a terrible fire of ridicule upon the pope and all 
his clergy. No work dealt them more severe blows. But satire 
was not to be the sword of the gospel. Luther boldly disap- 
proved of the "Letters," although he still retained Hutten and 
his band in the cause of reform. They were a sort of skirmish- 
ing corps, who did valiant service against the grosser errors. 

The knight Ulrich went to Brussels and sought to enlist under 
the emperor, Charles Y., then at variance with the pope. But 
Charles was no friend of gospel soldiers. He had orders to seize 
Ulrich and send him, bound hand and foot, to Rome. The 
inquisitor, Hochstraten, was to have charge of the business. 
Hutten learned of the plot and escaped. A little way out of 
Brussels he met the inquisitor on the high road. The terrified 
papist fell on his knees and commended his soul to God and the 
saints. ''No," said the knight, "I will not soil my sword with 
thy blood." He gave him a few licht strokes and allowed him 
to proceed on his way. 

Uhich found refuge in the castle of Ebernburg, where Francis 
of Sickingcn offered an asj^lum to all the persecuted. Tlicre he 
addressed to the crowned princes some of the ablest letters ever 
penned against error. There lie wrote appeals to the people, 
which inspired the German states with a horror of Rome and 
with the love of liberty. Tn his ardour for the Reformation he 
imagined that the sword could accom])lish quite as much as the 
Bible. Papal Rome used power ; why not resist lier with arms ? 
In this great mistake was his weakness. Yet we are pleased to 
find in him certain mild and delicate sentiments. When his 
parents died, he made over to his brothers all the family prop- 
erty, although he was the oldest son and heir to the estates. 



ANNA REINHARD AND HER HOME. 115 

He begged them not to write to him nor send him any money, 
lest, being detected and misunderstood, they should suffer the 
malice which his foes wished to expend upon him. 

The castle of Ebernburg was called ' ' The resting-place of the 
righteous. ' ' Martin Bucer was there. QEcolampadius was there, 
preaching daily to the warriors who wished to put down popery 
with the sword. They went daily to the church, but wanted a 
more fiery gospel, and at length grew weary of hearing sermons 
upon the gentle virtues of Christianity. "Alas!" said the 
preacher, ' ' the Word is here sown upon stony ground ! ' ' Before 
long, Sickingen was bent upon serving the cause after his own 
fashion, despite the protests of Luther. He had written to 
Luther, saying, "My services, my goods and my body, all that I 
possess, are at your disposal. You desire to maintain the Chris- 
tian truth : I am ready to aid you in the work. ' ' He marched 
against Treves, but failed. He retreated into his own castle of 
Landstein. The enemies whom he had roused up attacked him ; 
he was forced to surrender, for he was mortally wounded. The 
leaders of the assault entered the castle, searched it, and at last 
found the stout-hearted knight in a vault, dying on his couch. 
He stretched out his hand to the elector Palatine, whose com- 
panions hurled upon him their reproaches. "Leave me alone," 
said he, "for I must now prepare to answer a more powerful 
Lord than you." When Luther heard of his death he said, 
"It is not by the sword that the Lord will have his gospel 
advanced." 

Yet the dauntless Ulrich persisted in his wild schemes. He 
wrote to Luther, whom he loved because the young Reformer 
hated the monks : " It is with swords and with bows, with jave- 
lins and bombs that we must crush the fury of the devil." 

" I will not have recourse to arms and bloodshed in defence of 



116 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

the gospel," was the reply. ''By the Word the Church must be 
saved, ' ' 

''As for me/' answered Hutten, who saw the difference be- 
tween their plans, "lam busied with the affiiirs of men ; but 
you soar far higher and are occupied solely with those of God." 

The pen of Ulrich was still busy, and its power was felt among 
the most eminent men in Germany. To an Italian legate he 
said: "I tell you, and repeat it, Marino [Caraccioli], the dark- 
ness with which you had covered our eyes is dispersed ; the gos- 
pel is preached ; the absurdities of Rome are overwhelmed in 
contempt ; your decrees languish and die ; liberty is beginning 
to dawn upon us." Hutten found that his lashing satires, his 
rhymes for the common people and his vigorous appeals to the 
emperor and the princes, did not call forth the powerful aid to 
Luther that he had expected. He thought of the fall of Land- 
stein and the death of its hero in despair. Broken in heart and 
in health, he sought repose with Erasmus at Basle. "These two 
men," says D'Aubigne, " had long been friends ; but the unpol- 
ished and turbulent knight, braving the opinion^ of others, ever 
ready to lay his hand upon his sword, dealing his blows right 
and left on all whom he met, could scarcely live in harmony with 
the squeamish and timid Dutchman, with his refined manners, his 
mild and polished language, his love of approbation and his read- 
iness to sacrifice everything for its sake, and fearing nothing in 
the world so much as a disi)ute. On arriving at Basle, Hutten, 
jM^or, sick and a fugitive, immediately inquired for his old friend. 
15iit Erasmus trembled at the thought of receiving at his table a 
l)erson under the ban of the pope and the emperor, who would 
spare no one, who would borrow money of him, and who would 
no doubt be dragging after him a crowd of those Gospellers, 
whom Erasmus dreaded more and more. He refused to see him ; 



ANNA REINHARD AND HER HOME. 117 

and shortly after the magistrates of Basle desired Hutten to leave 
the city.-' 

The young knight, wounded to the quick, wandered about, 
thinking the severest things against Erasmus, and with his pen 
he caused the timid sage to wince. But from their war of words 
nothing good resulted. It appears also that Duke Ulrich of 
Wirtemberg did not escape his trenchant pen. But there was 
another Ulrich of whom he had heard, and to whom he directed 
his weary steps. On coming to Zurich he met with a generous 
reception from the noble-minded Zwingli. Anna was ever ready 
to administer her best bread, her cordials and her consolations. 
Foes soon appeared in Zurich against the invalid knight, and he 
must leave the city, Zwingli procured means for him to visit 
the mineral baths of Pfeffers. But these could not relieve him. 
The Beformer then gave him a letter to John Schnepp, the pastor 
upon the small island of TJfnau, in the Lake of Zurich. Tliis 
poor minister had some skill in the healing art, and entertained 
the sick exile with the most touching charity, vainly lavishing 
upon him all his care. In this peaceful and obscure retreat he 
felt once more the joyful hope which he had expressed to Zwin- 
gli : "That God would again muster the scattered Mends of 
truth and humble their adversaries." It seems that he la- 
mented the warlike spirit that he had manifested, and perceived 
that by a milder and yet as courageous a method he might have 
gained some of the most brilliant victories for the truth. The 
ark of God must not be touched by an iron hand. x\t the end 
of August, 1523, died Ulrich Hutten, "one of the most re- 
markable men of the sixteenth century." He had been expelled 
by one party, persecuted by another, deserted by nearly all, and 
having fought against superstition, he had scarcely possessed the 
truth. He was a fine speciman of a certain class of men who 



118 



UT.RICH ZWINGLI. 



were frank, ardent, noble soldiers against the papacy, but who 
failed in time to prevent mischief to the cause of the Reformation. 
With him such chivalr^^ expired. The French knight, Anemund, 
who assisted WiUiam Farel in Dauphiny, at first indulged some 
wild dreams, but he turned his impulsive energy to publishing 
the gospel. Ulrich left neither money nor books behind him — 
nothing but a pen. 



CHAPTER XI. 

TME MONKS AJSTD JVUJVS. 
(1533-1533.) 

THEEE were three monasteries in Zurich, and no lack of 
monks. It was easy for the council to order them to 
preach nothing contrary to the gospel, but it was difficult to 
make them do it. How could they preach a gospel of which 
they knew almost nothing ? How give up the legends and fables 
which were the sources of their greatest gains ? They felt that 
their old liberties were to be taken from them : one, notoriously 
bad one among them, thus wrote to Henry Groldli, at Eome : ^' I 
hear that you intend to bring a falcon with you. My advice to 
you is to let it alone, for there is such a spirit prevalent here 
that we priests can scarcely walk safely about the town, not to 
speak of going a falcon-hunting or springing over boors' hedges. 
We are decried as useless, good-for-nothing persons, that for 
three hundred years, until the time of Luther and Zwingli, have 
deceived the people. Every common man hopes that the num- 
ber of priests in Zurich will be reduced to six, or ten at most. ' * 
They need not have been alarmed for their persons — only for 
their principles. 

Immoral and ignorant as they were, they had powerful con- 
nections and influence. Several councilmen, who were loose in 
morals or fond of foreign gold, and who disliked the bold and 
faithful preacher at the great minster, went morning and even- 

119 



120 ULRICH ZWINGLI, 

ing to visit the cloisters and there hold their carousals. There 
they stirred up opposition, and hatched the darkest designs 
against the Reformer. The}^ and the monks sent abroad the ru- 
mour that only strife and disunion would result from his preach- 
ing. They talked, busied themselves in every way, made a great 
noise, and at last got a hearing before the ''little council." It 
was decided by the majority that in future there should be no 
more preaching against the monks. 

"Thereupon the council hall gave a loud crash," says Bul- 
linger. Many councillors were horror struck, and the meeting 
was suddenly dissolved. The preachers and the friars were now 
contesting with each other. A committee from the council met 
at the house of the provost, where many high words were 
passed, and the burgomaster finally advised each party to preach 
nothing that would disturb peace and unity. Zwingli replied, 
*' I cannot accept this command. I will preach the gospel free 
and unrestrained, as was formerly agreed upon. I am parson 
and bishop in Zurich ; I, and not the monks, have taken the oath. 
They must yield and not I. If they preach falsehood, I will 
come up to their very j^ulpits in their cloisters and contradict 
them. For my part, if I preach anything contrary to the Holy 
Gospel, I am willing to be censured by the chapter, by the coun- 
cil, eveiy citizen, and be punished for it." 

This was clear and decided, certainly. It had its effect. The 
monks began to speak of Thomas Aquinas and Scotus, the great 
scliolastic writers, but the council decreed that the gospel should 
be preached, for Tliomas and Scotus were of no weight. Nay, 
they went further ; they granted permission to Zwingli and his 
friends to go into the chapels of the nunneries and preach, where 
only the monks had hitherto been permittod to hold forth. The 
truth tlius won another victory. 



THE MONKS AND NUNS. 121 

Very soon John Faber, the vicar of the bishop, attracted the 
attention of the monks and mercenaries, who wished to secure 
him as the champion of their cau^e. This former friend of 
Zwingli now began to develop his real character. He had taken 
a lesson from Rome. John Eck, whom we remember as a fellow- 
student of Zwingli at Vienna, had gone to Rome to operate against 
Luther, and the pope had given him seven hundred ducats for 
travelling expenses. Rather expensive travelling, honest men 
said, but the knowing ones understood it. Faber at first ridiculed 
Eck, but soon he too coveted the wages of such service, and set out 
for Rome and the travelling expenses. Professor Egentius of 
Friburg wrote : "I begin to suspect Faber : he has many wants 
just now, and it said that he visits Rome to dedicate to the pope 
a book against Luther, for he has caught a hint of the pope's 
liberality to Eck. K he should come back from the seat of all 
evil, we shall all doubtless have to fall down and worship the 
golden image.*' 

Zwingli said : '* It appears to me that Faber has unlearned at 
Rome all the Christianity that he ever knew." The vicar was 
putting some bad thoughts into the head of the bishop of Con- 
stance. The monks dared not be too fast, for they knew the 
Reformer's popularity and his power over the citizens. They 
watched their chance. At length, in the early part of 1522, 
they found something heretical to lay before the bishop. He 
began to show the difference between the precepts of the gospel 
and those of men. During Lent he preached with vigour against 
certain papal customs. *'For four years," said he, *' you have 
eagerly received the holy doctrine of the gospel. Glowing with 
the fire of charity, fed with the heavenly manna, it is impossible 
that you can now find any savour in the wretched nutriment of 

human traditions. . . . There are some who maintain that to eat 
11 



122 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

meat in Lent is a fault, and even a great sin, though God has 
never forbidden it, and yet they think it no crime to sell human 
flesh to the foreigners and drag it to the slaughter. ' ' The mer- 
cenaries shuddered with wrath and vowed never to forget this 
thrust. 

Still Zwingli had not yet ceased to say mass, and he abstained 
from meat on the appointed days. But there were some turbu- 
lent men who were not so careful to avoid offence. William 
Rubli, the pompous priest, and others met at the house of coun- 
cilman Huber on Fridays to eat meat, and thus show their 
contempt for the Church. It was a matter of pride and not of 
principle with them. A citizen of Lucerne came to Zm-ich and 
said to some of this party : " You worthy confederates of Zurich 
are wrong in eating meat during Lent. ' ' 

'* You gentlemen of Lucerne do the same," replied a Zuricher. 

'' We have purchased our liberty from the pope.'' 

'* And we from the butcher. If it be an affair of money, one 
is certainly as good as the other. ' ' A printer, named Christoffel 
Froschauer, ate meat to give him strength for labour, thinking 
it to be no sin, but he made no pompous display of the matter. 
The council brought him before them. He defended himself, 
and was dismissed with a simple reproof *'That is the result of 
Zwingli' s doctrines," said his enemies. *' Zwingli is the de- 
stroyer and not the keeper of the Lord's fold." They besought 
the bishop to interfere. He chose his deputies and sent them to 
Zurich. 

On a dark evening, Luti, an assistant of Zwingli, ran to him, 
saying, ** The bishop's commissioners have arrived; all the par- 
tisans of the old customs are stirring. A notary is sent to 
summon all the priests for an early meeting in the hall of the 
chapter." 



THE MONKS AND NUNS. 123 

At an early hour Zwingli went to meet them. Two of the 
deputies had a severe, angry look ; they were Melchior Bottli, 
the suffragan, or bishop's assistant, and Doctor Brendli, The 
third was a milder man, John Vanner, the cathedral preacher at 
Constance, who was evangelical in his views and who kept silence 
during the whole of the business. The entire clergy of Zurich 
were present. The suffragan spoke in a haughty, excited man- 
ner, bearing hard upon Zwingli, but not naming him. Certain 
priests, who had timidly begun to take the side of the gospel, 
looked pale and drew heavy sighs. How Zwingli replied we learn 
from his own words: ''Pithily and bluntly I answered the suf- 
fragan ; in what sense and spirit let the worthy men who heard 
me judge. The suffragan let go this wing as if he had been 
beaten and put to flight, and he hastened to another battle-field, 
namely, to the town hall, where he, as I heard from some of the 
councillors, gave vent to the very same language against me, 
sajdng that he had nothing to do with me. This he said that I 
might not be brought before them." 

Never was the Swiss Reformation in greater danger. It might 
be stifled in the cradle. The little council was composed of 
enemies to the gospel — the great council of two hundred of its 
friends. At first Zwingli appealed for admission to the latter in 
vain. " I was obliged to give up," he says, ''and lay the mat- 
ter before Him who hears the groaning of the prisoner, and pray 
him to defend his own gospel. Patient waiting has never disap- 
pointed the servants of the Lord." The gospel seemed about to 
be condemned without its defender being heard. 

At last the cathedral preachers were admitted before the two 
hundred. They were Zwingli, Englehard and the aged Roeschli. 
The suffragan began his speech in a voice so soft and winning 
that one might have fancied him the mildest of all living men. 



124 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

*' The civil constitution," said this champion, '' and the Chris- 
tian faith are endangered. Men have recently appeared who 
teach novel, revolting and seditious doctrines." After a long 
speech about fasting and the like, he wound up by fixing his 
eyes on the senators, and saying: "Remain in the Church! re- 
main in the Church ! Out of it no one can be saved ! Its cere- 
monies alone are capable of bringing the simple to a knowledge 
of salvation, and the shepherds of the flock have nothing more 
to do than to explain their meaning to the people." He pre- 
pared to leave the room. 

*'Most worthy suffragan," said Zwingh, earnestly, "and you, 
his companions, stay, I entreat you, until I have vindicated 
myself ' ' But they were anxious to get away. 

The venerable burgomaster Roust arose, saying: "I beseech 
you to listen to the reply of the pastor. ' ' 

" I know too well the man I have to deal with," said the suf- 
fragan. " Ulrich Zwingli is too violent a man for any discussion 
to be held with him. ' ' • 

" How long since has it been customary to accuse an innocent 
man with such violence, and then refuse to hear his defence?" 
inquired Zwingli. "In the name of our common faith, of the 
baptism we have both received, of Christ the author of salvation 
and of life, listen to me. If you cannot as deputies, then at least 
do so as Christians." 

A general murmur arose against the conduct of the papal 
party. They found that they could not fire their guns and then 
run away from the field. Abashed and speechless, they sat 
down. Zwingli then said : 

"The reverend suffragan speaks of doctrines that are seditious 
and subversive of the civil laws. Let him learn that Zurich is 
more quiet and peaceful than any other city of the confederacy — 



THE MONKS AND NUNS. 125 

a fact which all good citizens ascribe to the gospel. Is not 
Christianity the strongest defence of a nation? What is the 
result of all mere ceremonies but shamefully to disguise the 
features of Christ and his disciples ? There is a better way to 
bring the unlearned people to the truth. It is the way that 
Christ and his disciples followed. It is to give them the pure 
gospel. The people can understand and believe it, for the Holy 
Ghost will teach them. As to fasts, if one does not find forty 
days enough, let him fast all the year if he chooses ; it is a matter 
of indifference to me. All I ask is that no one be compelled to 
fast. It is my duty to preach Christ faithfully, as I have done 
hitherto. As for the ceremonies, let those who live upon them 
undertake to explain them." 

There was a meaning in this last remark which the monks and 
deputies well understood, as their blushes and winces proved. 
It was touching the suffragan on a tender spot. Zwingli says in 
one of his writings : *' Is it not notorious that the suffragans fill 
their purses by the mummeries perfbrmed at their consecra- 
tions?" The council broke up. The mission had failed. Cer- 
tain questions were left to the pope and the cardinals, and the 
people were required to abstain from meat during Lent. But in 
this first skirmish between the two great parties the Reformation 
gained ground. The people saw that Zwingli had the best of 
the argument, for he had the word of God for his foundation. 
He felt stronger than before. Of the combat, he said : ''I hear 
that they intend to renew it. Let them come ; with God I fear 
them as little as the beetling cliff fears the waves that thunder 
at its base. ' ' 

Doctor John Yanner was so convinced of the truth of Zwin- 
gli' s doctrine that he became a faithful preacher of the gospel 

He went home, and began to lift up the true standard in Con- 

11 * 



126 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

stance. The bishop poured out a vial of wrath upon him, but he 
was unmoved. "I prefer," said he, "to be a Christian with 
the hatred of many rather than forsake Christ for the friendship 
of the world. ' ' Zwingli took his pen to write a tract on ' ' Ab- 
staining from Meats, Offence-giving and Strife." 

Four new attacks were now preparing for our valiant Re- 
former. We briefly sketch them, for through such battles our 
Christian liberties were restored to the Church. The first came 
from the aged canon Hoffman, who handed to the chapter of 
canons a long writing, in which he said : ' ' Even should the par- 
son be able to prove what crimes or disorders are committed by 
the clergy in certain convents, streets or taverns, it is no business 
of his, nor of any other one. He ought not to name anj^body. 
Why does he give it to be understood (for my part I have rarely 
heard him myself) that he alone derives his doctrine from the 
fountain-head, and that others seek it only in pools and ditches ? 
It is not to be expected that all priests will preach alike." 
Zwingli met the onslaught, and Hoffman was obliged to yield. 
With sharpened wit the Reformer wrote to Myconius: '' I gave 
him a shaking, as when an ox with his horns tosses a heap of 
straw into the air." 

The second attack was made by the bishop of Constance. 
Fabcr was his agent, and he wjote a letter against Zwingli, With- 
out naming him. Its purport was: "The Turks are falling upon 
us Christians. It is no time for men to be preaching heresies 
and persuading the people to cease paying their tithes. Give 
the Church money to keep off the Turks." The letter was sent 
abroad to injure Zwingli' s reputation, to alarm the people with 
dread of the Turks, and to secure a harvest of money. The 
monks of Berne read it and formed this resolution : If any per- 
sons read the books of Luther or Zwingli, or speak anywhere 



THE MONKS AND NUNS. 127 

against the holy rites and customs of the Church, we will refuse 
them the holy sacraments in the hour of death, we will exclude 
them from Christian burial, and we will deny to them the prayers 
of Christendom." But Zwingli need not take up the pen 
against all this, for a Bernese monk took the field. Sebastian 
Meyer wrote a commentary on the bishop's pastoral letter, the 
spirit of which was, ' ' Behold, dear reader, the Turk is again at 
the door. Ye papists must needs sell indulgences and drive him 
off. Ah i for many years he has been to you a good Turk ! He 
has brought you a great deal of money. How are you to get 
more ? This is where the shoe pinches. When the Turk was 
near us in Hungary you gave yourselves no concern about him ; 
but now, when he is farther away, marching on Italy, you are 
alarmed. Now as the papists have been for long years cheating 
the world by indulgences and a thousand other impostures, 
they must have heaped up an immense treasure, and yet they 
did not fight the Turk. Where is this treasure? Of what use 
are troopers to the bishops ? It is to ride about on the highways 
and terrify the merchants, so that the money drops out of their 
purses, from sheer fright, into the hands of those to whom it 
does not belong. Let all this treasure be employed against the 
Turk. Send the bishops, cardinals, priests and cowardly monks 
to fight the Turk. Off with them, and no longer torment hon- 
est folks and terrify simple Christians." Zwingli had this 
caustic document republished in Zurich, and really won the 
day. 

A third attack came from the same quarter before the second 
wa^ fully ended. Faber wrote to the Zurich canons to "guard 
a.qtiinst the poison of the new doctrines, and contend for the old 
j'ites. Stop such preaching. Remove the preachers." This 
letter was read in the chapter. Zwingli heard it and resolved to 



128 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

answer it. He published a little book entitled Archeteles—^'' Tlie 
Beginning and the End" — hoping that this would be the first 
and last defence necessary to make. In this he said: "What 
have I done ? I have called all men to a knowledge of their in- 
firmities ; I have endeavoured to lead them to the only true God 
and to Jesus Christ his Son. Hence I have spoken in such sim- 
ple language that all the children of Switzerland can understand 
it. . . . When Julius Caesar felt the mortal wound, he folded his 
garments around him that he might fall with dignit^^ The 
downfall of your ceremonies is at hand ; see at least that they 
full decently, and that light be everywhere substituted for 
darkness." 

His book was widely scattered and read, and many must have 
been touched by the praj^er wilii which it was winged: "O 
blessed Jesus, thou seest that ears of thy people are stopped by 
whisperers, traitors, self-seekers. Thou knowest that from a 
.child I have shunned all dispute, and yet thou hast led me to 
tlie conflict. I call upon thee to complete what thou hast begun. 
If I have built up anything wrongly, do thou overthrow it with 
thy hand. If I lay any other foundation than thyself, tear it 
down. sweet Vine! whose husbandman is the Father, whose 
branches we arc, do not abandon thy members ; for thou hast 
promised to be with us to the end of the world." 

The fourth attack was already being made from Constance. 
The general Diet of the Swiss confederacy was in session at Lu- 
cerne. IMost of its members were mercenaries, and of course 
enemies of the gospel. They intensely hated the patriotic Zwin- 
gli for spoiling many a golden game. Faber and his bishop 
looked to them for power to crush the Reformer. They sent 
deputies post-haste to Lucerne, where the monks were enter- 
tainin.i,^ the members of the Diet on the fat of tlie land, and say- 



THE MONKS AND NUNS. 129 

ing, " If Zwingli will not hold his tongue, we will bawl louder 
than he. ' ' They did their best at bawling. The Diet sided with 
the oppressors, and the gospel preachers were threatened with 
silence. Zwingli felt annoyed by this decision, but bravely went 
on as the "pastor and bishop in Zurich." All these attacks, 
made almost at the same time by the strength of the papal 
clergy, who were backed up by the Diet, only roused him to 
fresh exertions. He heard in the muttering storm the voice of 
God, and had a sublime faith that the truth would prevail. He 
called his co-labourers into council at Einsidlen, where we will 
shortly look in upon them and read the petitions which they are 
preparing. Now we inquire for the nuns. 

The council had a tender care over the sisterhood of nuns. 
Zwingli and Leo Juda were ordered to preach to them, while the 
monks were positively shut out from the convents. The light 
had not even glimmered in these cloisters, so careful had the 
Dominicans been to keep them in darkness. In the nunnery of 
(Etenbach were many veiled daughters of the first families in 
the city. Zwingli went thither, entered the pulpit and preached 
on " the clearness and certainty of the word of God" — a sermon 
afterward published and which bore good fruit in the convent. 
The Bible was read ; believers avowed their new faith. Several 
nuns asked the council for permission to leave the cloister, and 
take with them the little property they had brought to it. Their 
request was granted. Others wished to dwell and die in the con- 
vent. They were allowed to live in a convent, on condition that 
the nuns of the various cloisters should lay aside the dress of 
their order, dwell together in one house, and attend the preach- 
ing of the gospel. 

The ancient abbey or Frauen Minster (women's cathedral) was 
said to have been founded in the ninth century, and placed under 



130 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

its first abbess, St. Hildegarde. In this office was now Catharine 
von Zimmern. The breath of reform expelled the old air of su- 
perstition. The gospel displaced the missal. The true cross 
rose above the crucifix. Dr. Englehard preached to the inmates 
along with his evangelical brethren. They had large revenues 
from ancient legacies, but were convinced that their wealth might 
serve a better purpose than in purchasing their indolence and 
comfort. Catharine, the abbess, in 1524 handed over to the 
council all their revenues and lands, to be used *'for the glory of 
God, the salvation of souls and the comfort and help of the 
poor. ' ' The nuns had enough allowed them for life, and all the 
rest of their income was applied to the benefit of the churches, 
the school and the destitute. 

The monks were harder to manage. ' ' To snore behind the 
walls of a cloister is not to worship God," said Zwingli, as he 
laid bare their vices and proved that monasteries were contrary 
to the divine Word. " But to visit widows and orphans in their 
affliction, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world, this is 
truly to worship God. The world, in this text from St. James, 
does not mean hill and valley, field and forest, rivers and lakes, 
towns and villages, but the lusts of the world, as avarice, pride, 
uncleanness, intemperance. More of these vices are met with in 
cloisters than in the world abroad, not to speak of envy and 
hatred. Let the monks lay aside their badges and cowls, and 
put themselves on a level with the rest of Christendom.*' The 
council ordered the monasteries to be emptied. On a certain 
Saturday afternoon a body of citizens, councilmen and soldiers 
proceeded to the work, taking with them the gospel ministers. 
They assembled the friars and gave them a piece of astounding 
news. *'This gentry must leave their various convents, and live 
together decently in the convent of the Barefoot Friars." It was 



THE MONKS AND NUNS. 131 

of no use to howl about it, for the militia were at hand. The 
monks gathered up their wares and entered upon a new mode of 
life. The younger friars of talent were made to stud}' ; the 
others to learn a trade ; the strangers were given money to take 
them home or to enter a cloister in their own country ; the 
feeble and the aged were supported, on condition that they 
would behave themselves and attend church when they were 
able. Thus in a quiet way the death-blow was struck to the 
monkish establishments in Zurich. Friars grew scarce in Zu- 
rich : most of them removed to the papal cantons. 

The wealth of the convents was applied to the relief of the 
needy, since these institutions pretended to be asylums for the 
poor. It had been the custom for their poor scholars to beg for 
their living, as Luther had done in his youth. All this was for- 
bidden by the council. The worthy poor were placed beyond the 
need of wandering about for alms. Vagrants were allowed a 
meal or a night's lodging and sent on their way, with the com- 
mand not to return within six months. Zurich became a poor 
field for beggars and pilgrims. The city was regularly visited by 
men who sought out the cases of destitution and supplied them, 
watched over poor children and placed them where they could 
be educated. The gospel thus bore the good fruit of charity. 
Nor was her benevolence limited to her own people. If any cry 
of distress came from abroad she was ever ready to respond. It 
is so still. If there is an avalanche or landslide in any canton or 
village, a flood, famine or fire, the appeal to Zurich to ' ' come 
over and help us' ' is never made in vain. It is almost a pro- 
verb, and heard everywhere, "Had it not been for Zurich, we 
should have starved. ' ' Such a spirit has been a blessing to her 
people, for God never fails to reward liberality. 

A traveller at this very time (1866) writes: "We visited a 



132 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

splendid building erected by the kindness of Miss Welcher, a 
maiden daughter of an iron merchant of Zurich. She seems to 
be about sixty years of age, and presides over the institution with 
dignity and piety, reminding one of Anna, who pitched her tent 
under the shadow of the house of God. (Luke ii. 37. ) She spent 
about one hundred and twenty thousand dollars on the edifice. 
She pays the salary of an evangelical pastor, who is a native and 
student of Wirtemburg. He preaches on Sabbath afternoon at 
five, after all other churches are closed, and on Wednesday even- 
ing. It is also an almshouse, where a home is provided for such 
indigent persons as she thinks worthy her princely charity. ' ' 




CHAPTER XII. 

THE TWO PETITIONS, 

(1533.) 

ONE by one the men of truth were making a journey to Ein- 
sidlen, the ancient resort of thousands of pilgrims. It was 
the June of 1522, and they enjoyed the air of mountain hberty. 
They had left their homes at the call of Zwingli to hold their 
first synod or conference. Their chief thought was : " We will- 
see if there is righteousness in the bishop and any justice in the 
confederate Diet. They must repeal the act forbidding us to 
preach the pure word of God. ' ' Leo Juda ^ received them with 
joy into the old abbey, glad to remind them that their great 
leader, Zwingli, had there begun his work of reform. "What 
a change !" thought the noble abbot Geroldsek as he greeted the 
company. " Not five years ago, my good ZwingH, you stood up 
here alone, preaching to the pilgrims that Christ alone saves and 
he saves everywhere. But now what a host has gathered to your 
standard ! Truly Christ is at work everywhere. Be true and 
firm in the cause, and stand up for your rights. ' ' 

Next to the home of Zwingli, this renowned abbey had become 
a dwelling-place for the righteous, a stronghold of truth, a refuge 
for the tried and the troubled. The thirty-three patriots who 



* We have anticipated events somewhat in a foregoing chapter, in order 
to arrange our materials according to subjects. Leo Juda went to Zurich 
at the end of 1522. 

12 133 



134 ULltlCH ZWINGLI. 

had met on the solitary plain of Grutli more than two hundred 
years before, to break the yoke of Austria, were not braver men 
than the ten or twelve preachers who met at Einsidlen to sunder 
the chains which the Swiss Diet had placed upon them. Among 
them we see Stahel, Werner Steiner, the canon Kilchmeyer of 
Lucerne, and the canon Fabricius of Zurich.^ Zwingli leads 
them into the old chapel, and with devout prayer their confer- 
ence begins. On it depend the mighty interests of the Swiss 
lleformation. 

In the hand of Zwingli are two petitions written by himself. 
He moves that they be addressed, respectively, to the bishop of 
Constance and to the confederate Diet. The petition to the 
bishop is read first. It declares, "That heaven-taught truth 
which God the Creator has revealed through his Son to the sin- 
ful race of men, has been long veiled from our eyes by the igno- 
rance, not to say wickedness, of a few men. God has resolved 
to give it to mankind in its original purity. Unite yourselves, 
then, to those who desire that all Christendom may return to 
Christ their common head. ... On our part we are resolved to 
preach his gospel unceasingly, perseveringly, and without giving 
any just cause for complaint. Favour this, perhaps, strange, but 
not rash design. Be like Moses at the head of the people 
when they went out of Egypt, and with your own hands over- 
throw all that opposes the advance of the truth." The address 
then asks the bishop to restrain the gross immorality of the- 
priests, and "to permit what has been rashly enacted to be 
wisely repealed, for fear the majestic edifice of the Church 



* " There were many others who sympathized with the men who had 
met at Einsidlen ; such were Haller, Myconins, Hedio, Capito, (Ecolam- 
padius, Sebastian Meyer, Iloffmeistcr and Vanner." — D*Aubi</ne, 



THE TWO PETITIONS. 135 

should fall with a frightful crash, and spread destruction far and 
wide." 

The petition to the Swiss confederation is still longer. Like 
the other, it asks that " the preaching of the gospel may not be 
forbidden, and that the priests be allowed to marry," It pro- 
tests against giving the Lord's flock to a man "who preaches 
nothing but the payment of tithes and dues to the Church, who 
daily finds out new saints to whom offerings shall be made, who 
extols indulgences, and who fills his sermons with laudations of 
the pope." In it the petitioners say: "We are all Swiss, and 
you are our fathers. Many of us have proved ourselves to be 
true men in battle, in pestilence and in other calamities. We 
speak in the name of true chastity, but the scandals in the 
Christian Church must cease. If Eomish tyranny oppress us, 
fear nothing, brave heroes ! The word of God, the rights of 
Christian liberty and divine grace will protect us. We have all 
the same country, the same faith : we are Swiss, and the virtue 
of our illustrious ancestors was ever displayed in the invincible 
defence of all the oppressed." 

Such was the spirit of the two petitions. They were signed 
by those present, and then sent to be signed by other friends of 
the truth in other places. The appeal was thus made to the 
heads of both Church and State. ' ' It was something really sub- 
lime for those times," says Henry Bullinger, "that these men 
should have thus dared to stand forth, and, rallying round the 
gospel, expose themselves to every danger. But God preserved 
them all, so that no harm befel them ; for God always preserves 
his own. ' ' It was indeed the sublimest act done on one of the 
darkest days of the Swiss Reformation. It made Einsidlen to 
the Reformed Church what Morgarten had been to the freed 
nation. It secured a holy confederation of Reformers. These 



136 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

two petitions became to the Swiss Protestants almost what the 
Solemn League and Covenant afterward was to the Scottish de- 
fenders of the gospel. 

We shall often meet with these petitions as we advance, and 
see their effect, particularly at Berne and Lucerne. The wrath 
of the confederates was aroused. Such an unheard-of appeal 
from a few teachers, priests and "gospellers " must not be toler- 
ated by their dignities ! Threats were uttered everywhere ; in 
some places blows were struck. Even Zwingli began to fear that 
he had gone too far, and that his brethren must suffer for his 
own words. Nothing for long years had so roused all Switzer- 
land. Were the enemies of the Lord about to rise in their might 
and drive the gospel from that land of mountain fastnesses? 
Unto God he committed his cause, resolved, through him, to win 
the victory. '^We must obey God rather than men," became 
the watchword in Zurich, and it was adopted by most of the true 
Swiss clergy. 

In Friburg there was a canon, named John Hollard, a native 
of Orbe, where he had a brother who afterward aided William 
Farel in introducing the gospel in that town. Canon John wrote 
a letter to Haller and Sebastian Meyer; the magistrates of Fri- 
burg intercepted it, and learned something, probably, of Zwingli's 
intentions. They deprived Hollard of his office, thrust him into 
prison and finally banished him. But in this war when one sol- 
dier fell, his place was at once filled by another. John Vannius, 
a chorister of the cathedral, soon declared himself in favour of 
the new and the true doctrines. * ' IIow can the muddy waters 
of the papal Tiber," said he, '* compare with the pure streams 
of the word of God?" But the chorister was not allowed to 
chant in this strain. He was silenced. Friburg would not tol- 
erate the gospel. She closed her gates, refused to receive the 



THE TWO PETITIONS. 137 

new doctrines, lield to popery, and has remained papal to this 
day. 

It was in the convents that the most fury was expressed. The 
monks had little to do but ventilate their wrath. On the day of 
a great feast at the convent of Faubrunn, when the wine had got 
well into the heads of the guests, they began to hurl their darts 
against the late movements of Zwingli and his co-labourers. 
One thing particularly enraged the friars. It was that there was 
no priestly rank acknowledged among the Reform ers, who held 
that the ministers were on an equaHty. The parity of the clergy 
had been advocated from the Scriptures. Indeed the elder of a 
church in many respects held an equal rank with the pastor. 
This was especially offensive to the monks, who could not abide 
hearing Zwingli called a bishop in Zurich. Only one friend of 
the Reformation was present, and he a layman named Macrinus, 
the master of the school at Soleure.^ At first he avoided the 
discussion, passing from one end of the table to the other. But 
at last, unable to endure the violent language of the guests, he 
rose boldly and said: "Yes, all true Christians are priests and 
sacrificers, as St. Peter says : ' Ye are priests and kings !' " 

*'So then, you Grreeklings and pedagogues are the royal priest- 
hood?" cried out the dean of Burgdorf, one of the loudest 
brawlers. " A pretty priesthood, forsooth! beggarly kings ! . . . 



* Soleure is celebrated partly for the good-nature of its people. Three 
hundred years ago, two guild-brothers had a quarrel. The council ordered 
them to meet and drink wine together, and "my gracious lords" would 
condescend to come and drink with them. At a later day two women, 
who came to blows, were put into a small room and made to eat from the 
same dish with the same spoon. The home of Kosciusko was in this 
canton after his exile from Poland and his noble seryice to American 
independence. 
12 * 



138 ULRICH ZWINGTJ. 

priests without living!" At this the monks and priests fell upon 
him and illustrated their method of argument. The layman 
seemed vanquished for the time, but his cause acquired strength. 

' ' So rude are the blows by which men strive to overthrow the 
house of God," writes Zwingli to Myconius, after hearing of 
such attacks, "that not only does the storm beat upon it, but 
also the hail and the thunder. If I did not see that the Lord 
watches over the ship, I should abandon the helm ; but I see 
him through the storm, strengthening the tackling, hoisting the 
yards, spreading the sail, and even commanding the winds. 
Should I not be a coward if I abandoned my post and took to 
flight ? I will not be impatient ; I will confide all to his sover- 
eign goodness. Let him govern ; let him carry us forward ; let 
him hasten or delay ; let him even plunge us to the bottom of 
the deep ; we will fear nothimg. I still hold the opinion that the 
Christian Churchy w^ginally purchased hy the blood of Christy 
can he renewed alone hy the hlood of the witnesses for the truths 
and in no other way. ' ' 

The Reformers had sought the liberty of the gospel ; they 
ought to have gone farther and sought for the freedoili of the 
Church. They should have drawn the lines between the gov- 
ernment of the Church and that of the State. In all their 
churches the town-council wielded too much power of discipline. 
The pastor was too much under the direction of the council. If 
a man committed an ecclesiastical offence, the council tried and 
j)unished him. The burgomaster was almost in the place of a 
bishop. The magistrates made laws for the ministers and par- 
ishes. As a specimen of those laws, we cite some rules concerning 
the keci)ing of the Sabbath. "We ordain," said the council, 
"that every man, be he noble-born or a commoner, be he of high 
or low estate, man or woman, child or servant, sliall attend the 



THE TWO PETITIONS. 139 

church-service every Sunday at least, at the set time of public 
worship, except he be prevented by sickness or other sufficient 
cause. ' ' Also every one must not disturb the services, nor leave 
until they were finished. All inns must be closed before and 
during church-hours. Gambling, cursing, all excess in eating, 
drinking and dress were forbidden ; small public houses were to 
be closed after nine o'clock every evening. Many holidays were 
declared to be '*vain pastimes of popish extraction," and no 
longer tolerated. The ministers must enforce these laws with 
the aid of the magistrates. This board of moral discipline had 
power over the church members, summoning, trying, repri- 
manding, suspending or excommunicating offenders. 

In thus giving up th^ ecclesiastical into the hands of the civil 
power, it was understood that the magistrates were to take the 
word of God as their sole directory. Zwingli watched the coun- 
cil vdth all jealousy, lest it should not abide by the divine Word 
in all cases. He wished to elevate the magistracy. It is stated 
by historians that this mode of discipline produced good results. 
' ' Under its protecting and sheltering influence there grew up 
and flourished those manly and hardy virtues which so richly 
adorned the Church of the Reformation at its commencement." 

We have a body of church officers which sits in judgment 
upon certain cases and is called the Session ; they had a body 
which stood and was called the StiUstand. After the pastor had 
preached and closed the services, he and the members remained, 
still standing^ and if any case of discipline was brought up it re- 
ceived attention. The StiUstand could reprove and suspend 
temporarily, but no further punishment could be inflicted unless 
the case were carried before the magistrates. It should not be 
inferred that the form of church government was congregational. 
Affairs were in a state of transition from prelacy to a modified 



140 ULRrCIT ZWIXGT.r. 

Presbyterianism. Zwingli did not live long enough to perfectly 
establish his own system of doctrine and policy. It is worthy 
of notice that while the zealous Reformer was threatened at 
Zurich, he exerted a powerful influence in other quarters. In 
tracing it we may glance at the good work at Berne. 

Berthold Haller was born at Aldingen in Wirtemburg, in the 
year that Columbus discovered America. He went to Rotwyl in 
Switzerland and studied under Rubellus, in whose school he met 
Oswald MjTonius. They were of the same age, and were yet to 
devote their lives to the same cause of God. Haller next 
studied at Pforzheim under Simmler, with Melancthon as a fel- 
low-student. The Bernese were attracting literary men to their 
warlike republic ; Rubellus went thither, and was soon joined by 
Haller, then twenty-one years of age. He was named a canon, 
and soon became the cathedral preacher. 

When Zwingli unbound the word of God and offered it to the 
Swiss, Haller was one of the first to accept the glad tidings. He 
eagerly wished to see the mighty man whom he respected as a 
father. He went to Zurich, where Myconius had spoken in his 
praise. The meek preacher of Berne told Zwingli all Ijis trials ; 
the strong man inspired him with courage. Haller returned, and 
so boldly proclaimed salvation through Christ that he roused the 
opposition of all who had purchased absolution from the indul- 
gence-seller Samson. He wrote to Zwingli: '* I cannot endure 
such unjust treatment ; I am resolved to resign my pulpit, retire 
to Basle and study under the learned Wittembach." 

" I too feel discouraged,'' replied Zwingli, *' when unjustly as- 
sailed, but Christ rouses my conscience by his terrors and his 
l)romises. He alarms me by saying : ' Whosoever will be 
ashamed of me before men, of him will I be ashamed before my 
Father.' He strengthens me by adding : * Whosoever sh.ill con- 



THE TWO PETITIONS. 141 

fess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father. ' 
Oh, my dear Berthold, take courage. Our names are written in 
imperishable characters in the annals of the citizens on high. Oh 
that your fierce bears ^ would hear the doctrine of Christ ; then 
they would grow tame. Be gentle with them, lest they turn 
round furiously and rend you in pieces." 

*' My soul is awakened," answered Haller. *'I must preach 
the gospel. Jesus Christ must be restored to this city, whence 
he has been so long exiled. ' ^ He raised the new standard and 
bore it bravely into the conflict. His voice called forth a kind of 
force which was employed in almost all countries at the outset 
of the Reformation. It was that of satire and ridicule, so gen- 
erally popular in that age, but not always attended with good 
results. We may furnish a specimen by noticing what was done 
in this way at Berne, for it enters largely into religious history. 

Nicholas Manuel, a distinguished layman, holding high offices 
of State, was gifted with keen wit and wielded a scathing pen. 
As a poet he won distinction. His soul took fire when Samson 
was swindling the people by selling indulgences. He sharpened 
his pen and wrote a drama, representing the covetousness, pomp 
and arrogance of the pope and his clergy. It was called ' ' The 
Eaters of the Dead," and was to be acted by some young persons 
in the Hue de la Croix on the day when the clergy began their 
Lent. This was Shrove Tuesday, eight days before the people 
began their Lenten season. For some weeks nothing was so 
much talked of in Berne as the coming exhibition. At the time 
the citizens crowded to see it. The play opens. First appears 
the pope in glittering robes, sitting on a throne, with courtiers, 



* The old word Bern means a bear. The city still retains its fondness 
for tame bears and their effigies. They are the " lions" of the place. 



142 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

cardinals, guards and a motley array of priests around him. 
Behind them are nobles, laymen and beggars. A funeral pro- 
cession moves in, bearing the corpse of a wealthy farmer. Two 
of his relatives walk slowly in front of the coffin, which is laid at 
the feet of the pope. Then the acting begins : 

First Relative (in a sorroxoful tone). 

Noble army of the saints ! 
Hear, oh hear our sad complaints. 
Our cousin's dead: the yawning tomb 
Must take him now in life's first bloom. 

Second Relative. 
No cost to monk or priest we'll spare ; 
We've a hundred crowns for mass and prayer. 
To save from purgatory's fire 
The soul of this departed sire. 

The Sexton {to a priest), 

A trifle to drink, sir priest, I crave ; 
A farmer stout goes to his grave. 

Priest More-and-More. 
But one ! I only thirst the more. 
One dead! I would 'twere half a score. 
The more, tlie merrier then live we; 
Death is the best of games for me. 
♦ * * * * * 

Cardinal IIigii-Pride. 

On Christian blood doth Rome grow fat; 
Hence my rich robe and my red hat. 
You see my honours and my wealth ; 
Wo get them from the dead by stealth. 



THE TWO PETITIONS. 143 

Bishop Wolf's-Throat. 
In papal laws I'll firmly live and die; 
My robes are silken and my purse is full ; 
The tournament and chase are my delight. 
In former times when yet the Church was young, 
We bishops dressed as simple villagers; 
We priests were shepherds — now the peers of kings, 
And yet at times a shepherd's life I love. 

A Voice. 
You love a shepherd's life ! Indeed ! 

Bishop Wolf's-Throat. 
Ay, at the shearing time. Shepherds and wolves are we: 
The people are the sheep, and if they feed us not. 
They fall unpitied by our ruthless fangs. . . . 
Scandals ! I heed them not; they fill my purse. 
The smallest profit never comes amiss. . . . 

The Pope. 
Now doth the faithless world at last believe 
That an ambitious priest can ope or shut 
At will the gates of heaven. Preach faithfully 
The ordinances of the conclave's choice. 
Now we are kings, the laymen a dull throng : 
Wave but the gospel standard in the air. 
And we are lost. To offer up the mass. 
Or fee the priest, the gospel teacheth not. 
Did we obey its precepts, we should live, 
Alas ! in poverty, and meanly die. 
Ah ! then farewell to richly-harnessed steeds 

And sumptuous chariots 

No ! firmly will I guard Saint Peter's rights. 
And rash /intruders with my thunders blast. 



144 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

Such was the drift of Manuel's keen satire. The papal clergy 
felt its sting, for it painted them in living colours. The people 
were excited either with anger or with delight. Many were their 
jests as they went home. Some did more than laugh ; they felt 
the solemn lesson, for they had been unmercifully plundered by 
paying for masses and funeral rites. They wanted a relief from 
such impositions, and asked if they could really find it in the 
gospel. They began to speak against papal tyranny, and in 
favour of Christian liberty. 

Not long after this play a more real comedy was acted at 
Berne. It had been announced by the priests that on a certain 
day the skull of St. Anne, who was called the mother of Mary, 
would be brought to the city. The famous knight, Albert of 
Stein, had gone to bring it from Lyons. The clergy, council and 
citizens were waiting at the gate to receive it. They pressed to- 
gether, when the knight appeared, carrying the holy relic 
wrapped in silk, and exhibited for their adoration. The bishop 
of Lausanne humbly bent the knee as it passed before him. It 
was borne in procession to the church of the Dominicans. The 
bells rang loudly, the train filled the church, and the skull of 
'' the grandmother of Christ" was solemnly placed on the altar 
already consecrated to it. Some unusual offerings must be made 
by the people for this amazing privilege. The priests were 
looking for a harvest. What numbers it would draw from Hal- 
ler's preaching ! What large sums would be paid for the inter- 
cessions of St. Anne ! But just then all the blooming fruit was 
blasted. A letter came from the abbot of the convent at Lyons, 
informing the more honest ones that the monks had sold the 
knight a profane skull taken from the common graveyard. The 
mystery was cleared up, the charm was broken, the arrant rogues 
were exposed, the rage for superstition declined, the people 



THE TWO PETITIONS. 145 

opened tlieir eyes^ and the satires of the poet Manuel were seen 
to be founded in fact. The priests were truly living upon rev- 
enues laid upon the dead. 

A strong party was forming around Haller, both in the Church 
and in the State. In it was Bartholomew May, who had been 
compelled to bow to Samson and retract his words against 
the base trafficker. Above all was the family of the Wattevilles. 
James Watteville had been for years at the head of the republic, 
had read the writings of Luther and Zwingli, and had often 
conversed about the gospel with John Haller, the pastor of An- 
seltingen, whom he had protected from his persecutors. His 
son Nicholas had been educated as the child of his pride. The 
priests had spared no efforts to bind him to the interests of 
Rome. They knew that he would have means and influence at 
his command. It seemed as if everything would keep him from 
a knowledge of the gospel, but the Lord leads his chosen ones 
to the truth. He was drawn to Haller, and read Zwingli' s 
letters to him. His admiration for the Zurich Reformer was 
inexpressible. ^ 

Nicholas became the provost of the chapter of canons in the 
city, and hence one of "My lords of Berne." He had talent, 
wealth, the power of noble blood, a genial spirit and sound com- 
mon sense, all on his side. He gave all to the service of the 
heavenly Master. The pope offered him tempting honours, but 
he chose the persecuted cause of the once suffering and despised 
Nazarene. Haller often called him ''our bishop of Berne," a 
title not misapplied. Thus, with Nicholas at the head of the 
Church and his father at the head of the State, there seemed to 
be hope for the young republic. But there was another party 
still very powerful on the side of Rome. 

The two petitions of Einsidlen came to Haller ; he approved 

13 



146 UL.KICH ZWINGLI. 

of them, but did not sign them, because he was not a native 
Swiss. He went forward expounding the gospel after the man- 
ner of Zwingli. A vast audience gathered to hear him in the 
cathedral. The word of God had more power than the satires 
of the poet Manuel. The papal party was aroused. Haller was 
summoned to the town-hall, as the apostles were before the 
Jewish council. The people escorted this meek man to the door, 
saw him enter into the presence of men who might burn him, 
and remained on the square in front, doubtless praj'ing for their 
pastor. The councillors were divided in their opinions. ''It is 
a matter that concerns the bishop," said certain influential 
members: ''we must send him before our bishop of Lau- 
sanne." Haller' s friends trembled at these words, and begged 
him to get away as soon as possible. He left the hall. The 
people surrounded him, went with him to his house, armed 
citizens collected to defend it, determined that their bodies 
should be a wall which only violence could surmount, if any 
attempt was made to seize their beloved pastor. God blessed 
such enthusiasm. The council dared not touch him. 
The bishop shrank from ordering his arrest. John Haller was 
saved. 

The monk Sebastian Meyer, who had raised many a laugh at 
"the Turk" of the bishop of Constance, had not been looking 
out his window unconcerned. He could relish the stinging sar- 
casms of the poet Manuel, and yet feel that such were not the 
best weapons of truth. He nobly defended Haller. He refuted 
the hackneyed charge that "the disciples of the gospel teach a 
new doctrine, and that the old is the true one." Said he, "To 
have been a thousand years wrong will not make us right for a 
single hour ; or else the pagans should have kept to their creed. 
If the most ancient doctrines ought to be preferred, fifteen hun 



THE TWO PETITIONS. 147 

died years are more than five hundred, and the gospel is older 
than the decrees of the pope." 

The finger of God traces a channel for the streams of influ- 
ence. It was Zwingli who confirmed Haller in Berne. It was 
Hallcr who persuaded the noble William Farel to begin the 
powerful work in French Switzerland, where this Alpine Elijah 
was backed up tremendously by " My lords of Berne," while he 
filled the whole country with his doctrines. It was Farel who 
fixed at Geneva the man Calvin, called of God to project anew 
" the grandest form of the grandest faith in earth or heaven." 
It was Calvin who reformed the Reformation, laboured more 
vigorously than any other man for the unity of the entire forces 
of Protestantism, and left behind him a more extended influence 
upon the nations which now enjoy the purest Christian liberty. 
A rill from the Tockenburg mountains was thus poured into the 
stream of modern civilization. 



'# 



CHAPTER XIII. 

MTCONIUS IN TROVBLE. 
(1530-1533.) 

¥E left Oswald Myconius at Lucerne. This city was chiefly 
given to popery and foreign military service. Only a few 
of its leading men would listen to the voice of our patriotic Re- 
former when raised against the mercenaries or in favour of the 
truth. Myconius taught the youth what he dared of the good 
Word, and urged the canons Xyloctect and Kilchmeyer to preach 
the doctrines of salvation. The schoolmaster stood like a heroic 
commander on board of a ship, striving to enter a port, in spite 
of a furious storm, which will yet baffle all efforts and drive it to 
another haven. 

In no other city was there a more stubborn resistance to the 
entrance of the revived doctrines than in warlike Lucerne. 
When Luther's writings reached the people, some read them 
and were struck with horror. It seemed to them that a demon 
had invented them ; they flung the books aside in utter detesta- 
tion. They started rumours that if any one began to study 
them, his room was filled with devils whose eyes burned witli 
vengeance. Oswald heard of these visions, and knew that the 
real Satan was in the lying priests, who invented the absurd 
stories to frighten the people. But he was cautious ; he never 
spoke of Luther, except to his intimate friends. It was 

enough to announce the simple gospel of Christ. 
148 



MYCONIUS IN TROUBLE. 149 

The papists took advantage of this moderation. Loud voices 
were heard crying out, ' ' We must burn Luther and our school- 
master." 

• "I am assailed by my adversary like a ship in a hurricane at 
sea," said Myconius to one of his friends. Early in 1520 he was 
suddenly called before the council. "You are enjoined," they 
said sharply, "never to read Luther's works to your pupils, 
never to mention him before them, and never even to think of 
him. ' ' This was claiming a wide jurisdiction. Nothing short of 
death could prevent Oswald from having his own thoughts. 
Shortly after this a priest declaimed from the pulpit against 
heresy. The hearers were moved ; all eyes were turned upon the 
schoolmaster, for he must be the heretic. Oswald sat calmly in 
his place, letting the people stare to their satisfaction. On leav- 
ing the church with his friend Xyloctect, he met one of the 
councilmen whose fire had not yet cooled, and who said angrily : 
"Well, you disciples of Luther, why don't you defend your 
master ?' ' They made no reply, but Myconius wrote of his fears 
to Zwingli : "I live among savage wolves ; yet I have this con- 
solation, that most of them have lost their teeth. They would 
bite if they could; as they cannot, they merely howl." The 
great Shepherd had said that he sent his disciples forth as sheep 
among wolves. 

The people raised an uproar and blamed the innocent for the 
excitement. The senate met to fan the flames. " He is a Lu- 
theran," said one of the councillors. "He is a teacher of nov- 
elties;" "He is a seducer of youth," cried others. "Let him 
appear — bring him in," said they all. The poor schoolmaster 
was summoned, only to hear fresh threats and prohibitions. His 
gentle spirit was wounded and almost crushed. His excellent 

wife could only offer her tears as a balm of comfort. 
13* 



150 UI.RICII ZWINGLT. 

'' Eveiy one is against rae," he wrote to Zwingli. '' If Christ 
were not with me, I should long ago have fallen beneath their 
blows." From Constance, the bishop's stronghold, came a letter 
from Doctor Sebastian Hofmeister, saj^ing: "What matters it 
whether Lucerne will keep j^ou or not? The earth is the Lord's. 
Every country is the home of the brave. Even were we the 
vilest of men, our cause is just, for we teach the gospel of 
Christ." 

Hofmeister came to Lucerne, boldly preached, but was forced 
to leave the city. Oswald's sorrows gained upon him. The 
damp climate affected him, a fever preyed upon him, the physi- 
cians declared that he must leave the place or die. He wrote to 
his great friend at Zurich : ' ' Nowhere do I more desire to be 
than near you, and nowhere less than in Lucerne. My malady, 
they say, is the penalty of my iniquity. Alas ! whatever I say or 
do, turns to poison with them. There is One in heaven on whom 
all my hopes repose." 

Nearly two centuries before a fire had laid the greater part of 
Lucerne in ashes on the evening before the Feast of the Annun- 
ciation. In memory of it a great festival was still observed, 
when a sermon was delivered by some celebrated preacher. This 
year Conrad Smith, the commander of the Johannites at Kuess- 
nacht, was to preach on the occasion. The son of a peasant, he 
had won distinction by his exfraordinary talents. An immense 
congregation from city and country assembled in the church, all 
eager to hear an elo(iuent sermon in Latin, which would be all 
jargon to most of the listeners. They supi)oscd that he would 
defend images and all the old papal rites. But what amazement 
was on their faces when the commander spoke in German, and 
all could understand him as he told them of God's love in send- 
ing his Son to save tht'Ui. and that Jesus was the onlv Saviour! 



MYCONIUS IN TROUBLE. 151 

"God forbid," he exclaimed before the astonished people, 
*' that we should acknowledge for our head a chief so full of sin 
as the bishop of Rome, and reject Christ ! If the pope gives 
us the food of the gospel, let us consider him our pastor, but not 
our chief: if he refuses it, let us not acknowledge him at all !" 

''What a man!" said Oswald, whose joy could not be re- 
strained. ' ' What a sermon ! How full of the spirit of Christ ! ' ' 
The effect was general. The former agitation was followed by a 
solemn silence throughout the city. But this was merely tran- 
sient. The priests busied themselves in reviving the opposition. 
One of them committed an outrage upon a foolish woman, and 
afterward beat her husband so that he died, but this was not 
thought to be so bad as for the good canon Xyloctect to be law- 
fully married. The case of this lewd priest was one of the 
grievances which prompted the men at Einsidlen to send forth 
the two petitions. 

Oswald was at dinner, on the 22d of July, 1522, and the canon 
Kilchmeyer was at his table, along with some other friends, 
Einsidlen was no doubt upon their lips. A signal was heard ; a 
young messenger from Zurich stood at the door. He put into 
the hands of Myconius the two famous petitions, and a letter 
from Zwingli, asking him to circulate the papers. " It is my ad- 
vice," added the Reformer, "that this should be done quietly, 
gradually, and not all at once ; for we must learn to give up every- 
thing — even one's wife^' — for Christ's sake." In these papers 
there was a feast for the men at Oswald's table. They knew not 
what a fearful shell had thus been sent into Lucerne, which would 
soon explode. 

"May God prosper this beginning," said Myconius, turning 



* Zwingli was recently married at this time. 



152 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

his eyes to heaven. ' ' From this very hour this prayer should be 
the constant occupation of our hearts. ' ' The guests could join 
in the supplication. The young messenger told them of the at- 
tacks constantly made upon Zwingli. The schoolm.i >ter wrote 
him, ^' You have conquered not only in one contest, nor in two, 
but in three, and the fourth is beginning.'^ Your struggles im- 
part unflinching courage to all who have devoted themselves to 
Jesus Christ. ' ' 

The two petitions passed about for signatures, perhaps too 
rapidly. But these men felt that the crisis had come ; only by a 
vigorous effort could the fortress of popery be carried. Most 
men shook their heads and refused their names ; a few signed 
the petitions. The monks whispered, the priests murmured, the 
people became more violent against the truth. Lucerne had 
sent some soldiers into the foreign service, and they had been 
terribly beaten at Bicocca. It was a time of mourning through- 
out Switzerland ; the blood of the slaughtered Swiss had put 
gold into the hands of the living mercenaries. Zwingli had 
raised his voice against these foreign wars. The men of Schwytz 
had listened to him, and sworn to abstain from every foreign 
alliance for twenty-five years. But Lucerne hated Zwingli' s 
patriotism more than the wars that butchered her sons. Her 
citizens were wild with war. The pope must be defended ; the 
voice from Einsidlen must be silenced. Oswald was cast down 
in spirit. The whole land seemed given over to delusion. He 
said: " From the Swiss we can expect nothing which concerns 
theglory of Christ." 

The canon Xyloctect had feared for the safety of himself and 
his wife, who was a daughter of one of the noble families. He 



* See Chapter x. 



MYCONIUS IN TROUBLE. 153 

had shed tears of regret when he refused to go to Einsidlen and 
sign the petitions. The canon Kilchmeyer was bolder, although 
he had everything to fear. He wrote to Zwingli : "Sentence 
threatens me, but I wait with courage." As his pen was tracing 
these words, an officer entered his room and summoned him to 
appear on the morrow before the council. He took his pen and 
added : "If they throw me into prison, I shall claim your help ; 
but it will be easier to transport a rock from our Alps than to 
remove me a finger's breadth from the word of Jesus Christ." 
The respect due to his father's familj^, and the purpose to make 
the storm burst fully upon Oswald, saved the canon. 

No modern man had done more for Lucerne than Oswald My- 
conius. He had introduced the new yet ancient literature into 
his native city ; he had drawn students from all quarters to his 
lectures ; he had sacrificed his own comforts ; he had left Zurich 
and Zwingli ; he had lost his health, and had laboured for the 
highest good of the citizens. His wife was infirm, his child was 
young, and he had no other house. If Lucerne should drive 
him thence, where could he find a refuge ? But the fact that he 
would be a wanderer only incited his enemies ; they would have 
their revenge. He had not yet signed the petitions, lest he should 
thus sign away his last hope, but this made no difference ; he 
must be the victim. An old and valiant warrior, named Her- 
tenstein, proposed the dismissal of the schoolmaster, and thus 
hoped to drive from the canton his Grreek, his Latin and his gos- 
pel. He carried the motion. As he left the council he met 
Berguer, the Zurich deputy, and said, ironically: "We send 
you back your schoolmaster ; prepare a comfortable lodging for 
him." The courageous deputy replied : "We will not let him 
sleep in the open air." This was promising more than he could 
perform. 



154 ULRICH ZWIXGLI. 

Oswald knew that he was banished for the only crime of being 
'' Luther's disciple." He thought of his wife, his son and him- 
self, feeble, sickly, poor, driven forth he knew not where, with 
not a shelter in all stormy Switzerland offered to him. Then, if 
ever, are friends needed. He wrote to Zwingli: '* Here is your 
poor IMyconius, banished by the council of Lucerne. Whither 
shall I go ? I know not. Assailed yourself by furious storms, 
how can you shelter me ? In my tribulation I cry to that God 
who is my chief hope. Ever rich, ever kind, he does not per- 
mit any who call upon him to turn away unheard. May he 
provide for all our wants ! ' ' 

Glorious faith ! We in these soft days would not know when 
confidence in Jehovah becomes sublime, were it not for the re- 
cord of men who have been in the extremity of want. There 
was one man in Switzerland who never knew when to give up, 
and who always imparted courage to those whose spirits flagged. 
** This is my advice," said Zwingli. *' Appear before the coun- 
cil and make an address worthy of yourself and of Christ ; that 
is to say, one calculated to melt their hard hearts. Deny that 
you are Luther's disciple " [for he was not] ; *' confess that you 
are Christ's. Let your pupils surround you and also speak ; and 
if this does not succeed, then come to your friend — come to 
Zwingli, and look upon our city as your home." 

In a few days Oswald appeared before the council ; he plied 
their hearts with touching words, but it was all in vain. He 
must leave his country — his native Lucerne. The people cried 
out upon him, in order to prejudice the whole land against him. 
' ' Nothing remains for me, ' ' he said, ' ' but to beg my bread from 
door to door. ' ' The ' ' first man in Switzerland who had com- 
bined learning with a love to the gospel, the Reformer of Lu- 
cerne," with his sick wife and young child, must leave that 



MYCONIUS IN TKOUBLE. 155 

ungrateful city. Of all his father's familj^, one sister only had 
received the gospel. He crossed the ancient bridge, bade fare- 
well to the grand mountains so long familiar to his admiring eye, 
went weeping across his native country, and took God for his 
guide. The two friendly canons soon took their departure. No 
man was left to love or advance the truth. The gospel was ex- 
iled, and to this day Rome holds sway in Lucerne. 

The convents had often been the asylum of such weary refu- 
gees. The homeless Myconius thought of Einsidlen. Thither 
he went and was kindly received by the abbot Geroldsek. He 
was comfortable, but he felt that he must be at work. Six 
months wore away. He visited Glaris ; on his return, oppressed 
by the journey and the heat of the sun, he met his little boy 
Felix, panting to tell him the best of news. He had been in- 
vited to Zurich to superintend one of the schools. The tidings 
seemed too good to be true, but he prepared to depart. Gerold- 
sek was filled with regret and with gloomy forebodings. ' 'Alas ! ' ' 
said he to Oswald, ' ' all those who confess Christ are going to 
Zurich ; I fear that one day we shall all perish there together. ' ' 
The good abbot could not long remain behind ; he followed the 
impulse of his heart, and went to dwell in the city of Zwingli, 
Myconius and Leo Juda. He doubtless often looked in upon 
the thriving school of Myconius, or sat in the Church of Our 
Lady, and heard him read and explain the New Testament to an 
attentive people, who preferred this mode of evening worship to 
the vespers of other times. One says that "he could instruct 
in a manner very intelligible and entertaining." 

One of the most original of all the characters that appeared in 
the sixteenth century was Thomas Plater. He was a peasant 
boy from one of the deep valleys through which Mount Rosa sends 
the constant burden of her snows, as they melt into maddened 



156 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

streams. When nine years old he was placed under the care of 
a relative who was a priest. The lad was often so cruellj^ treated 
by this man that he cried (as he tells us in an autobiography) 
like a kid under the knife. A cousin took him with him to at- 
tend the German schools. He had a way of his own in gaining 
knowledge from all sources rather than books. Running from 
one school to another, he yet could scarcely read when at the age 
of eighteen. When nearly twenty-four he went to Zurich, and 
was one of our good Oswald's first scholars. The teacher was at 
first alarmed at finding students under his care who were so ad- 
vanced in years. But he soon discovered that Thomas was not 
fearfully learned. Young Plater said to himself: ''Here thou 
shalt learn or die. ' ' 

The gospel shined into his heart, and he detested his former 
superstitions. One very cold morning, when he had no fuel for 
the school-room fire, which it was his duty to keep up, he 
thought to himself : ''Why should you want wood while there 
are so many idols in the church?" There was no one in the 
church, although Zwingli was to preach and the bells were 
already summoning the people. He went in very softly, laid 
hold of an image of St. John that stood on the altar, and thrust 
it into the stove, saying: " Down with you, for in you must go.'' 
He most likely did. not have the sanction of his teacher to this 
proceeding. We will know Thomas Plater when we meet him 
again. 

Already had another strong and strange genius appeared, as a 
pilgrim in Zurich, to confer with the rising Reformer. He was 
Francis Lambert, born in 1487, at Avignon in France. His 
father ranked high in the offices of State, but the child was 
early devoted to the Church. 

The boy saw crimes enough among the prelates to harden him, 



MYCONIUS IN TKOUBLE. 157 

but God liad given him a tender conscience. He gazed on tlie 
begging barefoot monks as they passed by, and was eager for their 
smile. They worked upon his mind, and at fifteen he assumed 
tlie cowl. In the convent all went smoothly for a while, and he 
was anxious to grow holy as his companions. But he soon had 
his eyes opened. The halo of sanctity faded from the heads of 
the monks ; he saw them in their true character, and was 
alarmed at their hypocrisy. He felt driven to the Bible, read, 
believed and resolved to teach its truths. When he became the 
preacher of the convent, he sought not ' ' fat presents and well- 
stored tables, ' ' as did his colleagues. He went on foot through 
the country preaching to the poor. He almost wore his life away 
on one of his extended visits ; a mule was given him to carry 
his weak frame to his poor cell where he might rest ; some of the 
monks were angry, others railed at him, but all joined in selling 
the mule, putting the money in their purses, and asserting that 
this was the only profit of these gospel journeys. 

Worse things might be told of the monks, who hated Lambert 
for his purity of life and his rebukes of their sins. The world 
seemed to him far more holy than the convent, and he thought 
of leaving this debauched society. But he found what his soul 
craved. At the fairs of Lyons, Luther's works had been sold; 
they passed down the Rhone and reached his cell. They were 
soon taken from him and burnt, but it was too late. He was 
saved. No more did he sleep sitting on a stool, nor wear hair- 
cloth, nor scourge himself, nor so nearly starve that he must 
sometimes faint when preaching in the churches and in the fields. 
In these there was no merit. He trusted now in Christ. He 
made up his mind to abandon popery, quit the convent and leave 
France. 

On a July Saturday, shortly after the meeting at Einsidlen, 
14 



158 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

there appeared in the streets of Zurich a tall, spare monk, wear- 
ing the gray frock of the Cordeliers, and riding on a donkej^ with 
his feet almost touching the ground. He knew not a word of 
German, unless he had gathered it in crossing the Alps, but he 
made himself understood in Latin, and found the house of Zwin- 
gli, to whom he gave a letter from Berthold Haller. "This 
Franciscan father Lambert," wrote Haller, "who is no other 
than the apostolical preacher of the convent general of Avignon, 
has been teaching the Christian truth for these last five j^ears ; 
he has preached in Latin before our priests at Geneva, at Lau- 
sanne, before the bishop at Friburg, and at Berne, touching the 
Church, the priesthood, the mass, the traditions of the Romish 
bishops and the superstitions of the religious orders. It seems 
most astonishing to me to hear such things from a gray friar and 
a Frenchman — characters that, as you are aware, presuppose a 
whole sea of superstitions." 

Zwingli was delighted with the account which the stranger 
gave of his experience, for here was another of those original 
Reformers who had struck out a line for himself The Church 
of Our Lady was opened to the monk, and he was given a seat 
in front of the high altar. He delivered in it four sermons, in 
which he handled the errors of Rome quite in the style of 
Luther, except that in the last one he defended the invocation 
of Mary and the saints. 

"Brother, thou art mistaken," exclaimed Zwingli, in an ani- 
mated voice. Canons and chaplains were in an ecstasy over the 
prospect of a dispute between the Frenchman and the Reformer. 
"He has attacked you," said they to Lambert: "demand a 
public discussion." The monk did so, and on a given day the 
two champions met in the hall of the canons. Zwingli began, 
and for about four hours argued his points from the Bible. Then 



MYCONIUS IN TROUBLE. 159 

the Frenchman clasped his hands, raised them heavenward and 
exclaimed: "I thank thee God, that by means of such an 
illustrious instrument thou hast brought me to so clear a know- 
ledge of the truth." Then turning to the astonished assembly, 
he said : ' ' Henceforth in all my tribulations I will call on God 
alone, and will throw aside my beads. To-morrow I shall resume 
my journey : I am going to Basle to see Erasmus, and thence to 
Wittemberg to visit Martin Luther." 

The priests wished they had said nothing, for the effect upon 
the people was not to their mind. They were glad when he 
mounted his little donkey and rode away. 

The next year he dared to marry — two years before Luther 
set at naught the celibacy of the clergy by taking a wife, as the 
Bible permits. He did much in sending books to France, and 
then felt that he must go himself Luther urged him to labour 
among the German Alps. Farel called him to his native coun- 
try. He was in perplexity. In Germany he might have peace 
and safety ; in France, peril and death. He could not rest. He 
walked the streets of Wittemberg with downcast eyes, and his 
wife Christina could not calm his mind. She was willing to go 
anywhere and share his sufferings. 

At last he kneeled and prayed that the Lord would end the 
struggle by choosing the lot that he would cast. He took two 
slips of paper ; on one he wrote France^ on the other Sioitzer- 
land. He closed his eyes and drew the first slip — France. 
Again he prayed, drew the lot and it was again France. Some 
hours after he remembered that Gideon thrice asked for the sign 
on the fleece, and he prayed the third time and still drew France. 
From that hour he did not hesitate, and during Lent, in 1524, 
there appeared in Metz a doctor and ex-fiiar with a wife — an 
astonishment to the people, for a mamed priest had not been 



160 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

seen in France since the reign of popery. But the lot had not 
been ordered by the Lord ; he was not successful ; he afterward 
became a professor of theology at Strasbui-g, then at Marburg, 
then aided in the Reformation in Hesse, and was celebrated in 
many of the great discussions which agitated Europe. We will 
meet him again. 




CHAPTER XIV. 

K:EW TJtIUMPHS, 
(1533-1533.) 

THOMAS PLATEE was not the first man who had used 
images to kindle fires. Most happy would it have been if 
all the advocates of reform had been as honest as he was and as 
free from rashness. But in the gospel arm}^ there were some of 
those desperate heroes, who left their ranks and made such reck- 
less sallies against error that they injured the holy cause. They 
prevented the best effects of the two petitions that went forth 
from Einsidlen by inflaming the minds of the papal party. No 
sooner had Zwingli returned from that ancient hermitage than 
the case of certain zealots engaged his attention. To them we 
give a little space in order to fill up the picture of those stormy 
times. 

A young priest, learned, hot-headed, high-tempered and am- 
bitious, resolved to send forth a fiery blast against idolatry. All 
the friends of Louis Hetzer were startled when he published a 
little book in German, entitled "The Judgment of Grod as to the 
mode of dealing with Images." The volume produced a great 
sensation. The people read it and many were filled with hatred 
against images, but it gave them no love for the true worship. 
It was a firebrand east among them, inciting rash men to acts 
of violence. 

In the town of Stadelhofen dwelt "a worthy man, and well 

14 * 161 



162 ULRICH ZAVINGI.r. 

read in the Scriptures," named Clans (Nicholas) Hottinger. A 
more honest shoemaker never kept his word. He had often 
passed through the gates, and just outside of them seen a cruci- 
fix richly carved and ornamented, which was highly venerated. 
It belonged to the miller of the town. One day, after reading 
Hetzer's book, he met the miller and asked: "When do you 
intend to throw down your idols?" 

" No one compels you to worship them," was the reply. 

* ' But do you not know that the word of God forbids us to 
have any graven images ?' ' 

"Well, then, if you are authorized to remove the crucifix, 
you may take it away whenever you choose. I give it up to 
you." 

Nicholas thought that this was license enough, and on a Sep- 
tember morning he marched out with a band of citizens, took 
down the image and sold the wood for the benefit of the poor in 
the hospital. This act caused a wondrous excitement. One 
might have thought that religion fell when the crucifix came 
crashing to the earth. A loud outcry was heard : ' ' Down with 
these men ! They are church-robbers and worthy of death. 
They have committed sacrilege." 

"No," said Zwingli and his colleagues from their pulpits, 
" Hottinger and his friends are not guilty in the sight of God 
and worthy of death. Their act is not sacrilege. But they may 
be punished for having acted with violence and without the 
s:\iiction of the magistrates." But before Zwingli was heard 
from, the " Idol-stormers" were arrested. 

Similar acts were common ; one of them increased the general 
ooinmotion. Lawrence Meyer, a curate of St. Peter's in Zurich, 
w:i< one day standing in front of the church looking at a number 
of |)oor people craving for bread and shivering in the cold. He 



NEW TRIUMPHS. 163 

said to a fellow-curate: ^'I should like to strip these wooden 
idols, and procure clothing for these poor members of Jesus 
Christ." Somebody took the hint. On Lady day, before three 
o'clock in the morning, the "saints" and all their ornaments 
suddenly disappeared. Plates, rolls, images and other symbols 
were gone. The council flung the curate into prison. He pro- 
tested that he was innocent, and was at last set at liberty. But 
the people said : "What ! is it these logs of wood that our Lord 
commanded us to clothe ? Is it on account of these images that 
he will say to the righteous: 'I was naked and ye clothed me' " ? 
Zwingli was not so zealous against images as William Farel ; he 
said that being near-sighted he did not see them, and they gave 
him no personal offence. But he declared plainly that "all 
images must be removed which call forth a superstitious venera- 
tion, because such veneration is idolatry. . . . x\n old man may 
remember the time when not the hundredth part of the images 
were in the churches that are now to be found in them : woe to 
us if we increase them ! I verily believe that the whole of papal 
Christendom would rather have their images or idols than the 
word of n^od. For when the Word is presented, it is clearly seen 
that the whole papacy is a lie. Therefore they let the sufferings 
of Christ be painted on the walls and represented in statuary, 
and let poor fools hang silver and gold thereon, and kiss the stone 
feet, but they must not learn what the sufferings of Christ mean. 
Because, as soon as they have learned this lesson, they take 
Christ as their Redeemer, and no longer buy salvation from the 
papacy. Therefore, while the gospel is preached, the images 
ought to be removed, that men may not fall back into their for- 
mer errors ; for as storks return to their old nests, so men return 
to their old errors if the way to them be not barred." 
The shoemaker was brought before the council of Zurich, 



164 ULRTCTI ZWIXGLI. 

along with Conrad Grebel, a violent j^oung man, of whom more 
hereafter. To make an example of these imprudent men would, 
perhaps, quiet the noisy priests. The venerable burgomaster 
Roust said to them: ^^^Ye forbid you to speak against the 
monks and on controverted questions/' At these words a loud 
noise was heard in the council chamber, says an old chronicler. 
Some thought that God was giving a sign of his displeasure. 
Every man looked about in wonder, but saw nothing to explain 
the mystery. Poor Hottinger was yet to be the victim of worse 
persecution. 

A wiser man now drew general attention. The confederate 
Diet was sitting at Baden, seeking how to please the bishop of 
Constance by crushing the Reformer, and to hush the voice that 
cried aloud against the mercenaries. The two famous petitions 
were laid before the members of the Diet. Whereupon they must 
visit their wrath ui)on some faithful preachers. *' Arrest the one 
nearest to us," said they : ** one example will frighten the whole 
band." Urban Weiss, the parson of Fislisbach, lived nearest to 
Baden. He had already been in prison for saying that ** Chris- 
tians must not call on the Virgin Mary or other saints for 
help." He was quietly at home again, when he was seized, 
taken to Constance, delivered up to the bishop and thrust into 
jail. " It was thus that the confederates began to persecute the 
preachers of the gospel." The monks raved more furiously from 
their pulpits, and their followers offered to supply wood free of 
cost to burn Zwingli. 

Shortly after Leo Juda went to Zurich he was one day lis- 
tening to the sermon of an Augustine monk, who asserted that 
man is able of himself to satisfy the righteousness of God. 
*' Reverend father," said Leo, "listen to me for a moment, and 
you, my dear citizens, be silent, while I speak as becomes a Chris- 



NEW TRIUMPHS. 165 

tian." He then proved from Scripture the falseness of the doc- 
trine to which they had been Ustening. Upon this a great 
disturbance arose in the church ; several persons fell upon ' ' the 
little priest" from Einsidlen, but he was "lion" enough to turn 
all this to victory. 

"Let us hold a conference to settle these cases," was Zwingli's 
demand of the great council. It was granted. The time fixed 
upon was January 29, 1523. The call went forth ; it was talked 
of through all Switzerland. The papists were vexed, and said 
in derision, "A Diet of vagabonds is to be held in Zurich ; all 
the beggars from the highways will be there." This was a hard 
name to give to those of their own party who came at the time — 
such men as vicar Faber and the knight James von Anwyl. 
The confederate Diet did not condescend to appoint any dele- 
gates. The friends of the gospel came from all quarters. Berne 
sent up the champion against "the Turk," Doctor Sebastian 
Meyer. Citizens and country-people gathered at the place, ' ' for 
with many," writes Bullinger, "there was a great wonderment 
what would come out of this affair. ' ' Yet there was but one 
deputy from the cantons regularly commissioned, and he came 
from a quarter least expected. 

Far up north, at Schaffhausen, near the falls of the Rhine, the 
papists had attempted to create a terror among the Reformers. 
An aged man, named Galster, had found salvation in the good 
Bible, and told the glad news to his wife and children. Perhaps 
unwisely he openly attacked the relics, images, mass, priests and 
every sort of papal superstition. His neighbours hated him and 
put him in fear for his life. The old man left his house broken- 
hearted, and fled into the forests for safety, sustaining himself on 
what he could find in the cold winter. Suddenly, on the last 
night of the year 1520, torches flashed through the forests, the 



166 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

hounds ba3^ed in all directions, and the shouting hunters rode on 
in their cruel sport. The council had ordered this chase after the 
wretched man. The hounds seized their prey. The venerable 
Christian was taken before the magistrates, and, after refusing to 
abjure his faith, he was beheaded. A more powerful man rose 
up in his stead. No one dared to hunt down Doctor Sebastian 
Hofmeister, one of Zwingli's warmest supporters, nor waylay him 
as he went to the Zurich conference as the only deputy from the 
canton. 

At the hour there met in the hall of the Great Council about 
six hundred persons of all parties, expecting some extraordinary 
proceedings. The aged warrior and burgomaster Roust presided. 
Zwingli sat alone at a table in the centre of the hall, with his 
Bible at hand, and all eyes turned upon him. The burgomaster 
made the opening speech, explaining that they were met to deter- 
mine whether Magister Ulrich Zwingli was a heretic and a 
seditious man. If any one present thought him to be so, let him 
prove it. The chevalier Von Anwyl told how his bishop had sent 
him and his colleagues to inquire into " certain doctrines and 
preachings" which had made a noise in the diocese. No one 
wished for peace more than " my gracious master the bishop." * 

Zwingli arose and said: "God has revealed his will to the 
human race. Pure and clear is this Word in itself; but in our 
days certain men have so darkened and defaced it that most 
l)e()ple called Christians are wholly ignorant of the divine will. 
And now, when some begin to i)()int out the truth, lo ! they are 
cried down as corrupters of the Church and as heretics. Such 
an one I am regarded. For five years in this town I have 
preached nothing but Christ's saving message to man, and yet 



We condense all these speeches. 



NEW TRIUMPHS. 167 

this has not justified me. I am stigmatized throughout Switzer- 
land as a heretic, a misleader of the people, a rebel. . . . Now, 
then, in the name of God, here I stand." 

In his hand was a little printed book containing his sixty-seven 
theses, which he held out, saying: "These propositions are the 
sum of what I have taught. I am ready to defend them. The 
spirit of God has compelled me to speak. He knows, too, why he 
has chosen me, all unworthy as I am, to be his herald. Go on, 
then, in God's name. Here I am to answer you." 

Six hundred people were staring at Faber, who rose saying, 
very politely : " My esteemed brother Zwingli assm-es us that he 
has always preached the gospel in Zmich. Truly, I do not doubt 
that, for what true preacher would not. He means to vindicate 
his doctrine : I really wish he had come to Constance, where I 
would have testified my friendship for him. But I was not sent 
here to dispute, but to listen, and in case of a debate to decide 
what will make for peace. ' ' The assembly, in surprise, began to 
laugh. The bishop's vicar went on to say: "The Diet of Nu- 
remberg has promised to call a general council within a jeai' ; we 
must wait until it meets. ' ' 

"Is not this vast and learned assembly as good as any coun- 
cil?" inquired Zwingli. "There are bishops here, such as are 
overseers of the flock, and called bishops by the apostles. ... As 
to the Nuremberg business, I have here three letters from there, 
none of which contain a single word about calling a general 
council. The pope, bishops and clergy are utterly opposed to it. 
Now is the time to defend the word of God in this assembly. ' ' 

A deep silence followed this appeal; it was broken by the 
white-headed burgomaster's challenge: "If there be any one 
here who has anything to object to Zwingli and his doctrines, let 
him now speak." Not a word was said by the papists. 



168 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

*'In Christian love I call upon those who have accused me, 
and I know that there are several here," said the Reformer, " to 
come forward and reprove me for the love of truth. I do not 
wish to call upon them by name. ' ' Not a man among the Ro- 
manists opened his Hps. 

''Where are the men who would burn us," cried out Joner, 
the abbot of Cappel, ' ' and who have already provided wood for 
\he purpose?" This was driving the papists into a corner and 
provoking them with a sharp lance. But the slain hosts of Sen- 
nacherib were not more voiceless. They could make an uproar 
throughout the country, but they dare not venture upon an ar- 
gument with a man who stood with all the defences of the Bible 
at his side. 

Parson Wagner then rose and said : " Our gracious lord of Con- 
stance has lately issued a mandate requiring us to observe the 
traditions of the Church until a general council otherwise orders. 
But as no one comes forward to refute Zwingli's articles, I hope 
that henceforth we shall take them as our guide, rather than the 
bishop's mandate, and preach the word of God fully and purely. 
If these men cannot sustain the mandate by opposing Zwingli, 
then there must be sonic injustice done to the parson of Fislis- 
bach, who we know has been imprisoned for not obeying the 
mandate. This much I say in my simplicity, for Urban Weiss 
is our brother." 

Faber dropped his reserve for a moment, and replied that 
"the bishop must have seen the need of the mandate, as there 
are many foolish persons in his diocese who utter great nonsense. 
The parson of Fislisbach is an illiterate, unreasonable man, who 
says things that I would be ashamed to repeat. I have shown 
him from Scripture that it is right to worship the saints, and he 
now is willing to recant all that he has said against it. He 



NEW TRIUMPHS. 169 

ought to thank me for my trouble, and he will soon be set at 
liberty." 

' ' No doubt God has caused this matter of invoking the saints 
to come up,'* said Zwingli, impatient to draw out the papists. 
* ' My lord vicar boasts that he has converted Urban Weiss from 
his errors ; let him now tell us by what passages of Scripture he 
did it." 

**I see, dear sirs," replied Faber, ''that the tables are turned 
against me. ' The fool is easily caught in his words,' says the 
proverb." After a little slight skirmishing between the two 
champions, Faber sat down in silence. Not another word would 
he utter. Not one of his party would enter the lists and prove 
that the saints should be adored. The burgomaster challenged 
them in vain, and at last dismissed the assembly to dinner, with 
the remark to Faber: ''It seems that the famous sword with 
which you smote the pastor of Fislisbach will not come out of its 
sheath to-day." 

In the afternoon there was the same reserve in the Roman 
party. The council therefore resolved that "the Magister 
Ulrich Zwingli continue, as hitherto, to preach the Holy Scrip- 
ture, as the Spirit of God may enable him," and that the clergy 
in town and country be commanded to preach nothing which 
they cannot prove to be the gospel. "Nor shall they, for the 
future, apply to each other abusive names, as heretic and the 
like." 

" Praised be God," exclaimed Zwingli, "whose Word will rule 
in heaven and earth !" But Faber could not restrain his indig- 
nation, and he said: "The theses of Master Ulrich are con- 
trary to the honour of the Church and the doctrine of Christ, 
and I will prove it." Zwingli pressed him to furnish the 
evidence. 

15 



170 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

'* I will not debate with you unless it be at Paris, Cologne or 
Friburg, ' ' was the reply. 

'' Why not here?" answered Zwingli. '' I will have no other 
judge than the gospel. Sooner than you can shake one of its 
words, the earth will open before you. ' ' 

''The gospel!" sneered Faber, ''always the gospel! Men 
might live in holiness, charity and peace, even if there were no 
gospel. You had better held your peace than to have thus de- 
fended yourself ! " At these words the people rose up indignant 
at the conduct of the vicar and left the hall. Thus ended the 
first Zurich conference. A new position was gained. The coun- 
cil would defend "the bishop of Zurich," and the bishop of 
Constance might look after his mandate himself Hundreds 
of people thought, "These noisy priests are afraid of the 
Scriptures." 

A poor country parson met Zwingli and said : ' ' You ask too 
much when you exhort every pastor to read the Bible, especially 
the New Testament. How can one who has a small living buy a 
Testament ? I have such a small salary that I must here put in 
my word." 

" There is, by God's grace, no priest so poor," replied the Re- 
former, ' ' that he cannot buy a Testament, if he go seriously 
about it. He will find some pious citizen who will loan him the 
money or give him one." 

Several persons took this hint and distributed Testaments 
among the poor. Among them was a son of the burgomaster, 
who gave one to an humble parson, saying: "I wish that you 
may read the divine Word with all diligence, and put more faith 
in the Creator of all things than in the i)Oor weak creature, 
man." 

An aged schoolmaster wrote out a faithful report of the con- 



NEW TRIUMPHS. ' 171 

ference. Faber was provoked when he read it, and he haughtily 
published his version of the affair. This aroused the indignation 
of the Zurichers. Six young men, most of them councillors, re- 
futed Faber by a pamphlet entitled "Hawk Pluckings," a name 
applied to some rude game. Their biting wit stirred up the 
wrath of vicar Faber, and he soon became a heartless persecutor. 
One writer of that age says, in too strong terms : "We ought 
rather to call Faber a cruel judge than a doctor or a bishop. 
Throughout all Germany and the neighbouring countries his se- 
verity is known. Scarcely a hangman in our fatherland has 
executed so many as have been condemned by the unjust sen- 
tences of Faber While the poor wretched Hans Huglin 

was groaning on the rack, the vicar sat there and laughed. The 
tortured man saw this and said : ' Oh, dear sir, why do you laugh 
at me ? I am but an abandoned creature, not worth laughing 
at. Laugh over yourself, and may (xod forgive you ; you know 
not what you do. ' At these words the vicar, who looked at him 
more wickedly, grew very red ; since which all the world has 
pitied the poor man." It is said that Faber rejoiced to see him 
burning at the stake. 

The tactics were now changed for a little time. A new pope, 
Adrian VI., had charge of the papal seal, called the fisherman's 
nng, because St. Peter was represented on it as a fisherman. 
The captain of the pope's guard, a son of the burgomaster 
Roust, visited Zwingli along with a papal legate. They pre- 
sented a letter from the pope, and were ready to offer him a 
mitre, crozier, cardinal's hat, or all that he dare ask, if he would 
only turn papist. Francis Zing of Einsidlen was also urged to 
use his influence. Rome offered her mightiest temptations. 
What he thought of all this may be learned from his own words : 
"A few days ago I received, both by letter and by word of mouth, 



172 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

gi*eat promises from the pope, which I have answered as God 
will in a Christian and unmoved frame of mind. It is, however, 
no matter of doubt that I could attain to a greatness such as not 
every one could reach, if the poverty of Christ were not dearer 
to me than the wordly pomp of the papists." Also to his old 
teacher Wittembach he wrote, June 15, 1523: ''God grant the 
Swiss people a sense to understand and love his Word, for the 
pope is seeking anew to press his yoke upon them. To me, too, 
he has sent a letter under the fisherman's ring, with brilliant 
promises ; but I despatched the messenger with an answer ac- 
cording to his merits, telling him in plain language that I be- 
lieved the pope to be anti-Christ." 

'' What did the pope commission you to ofier him ?" inquired 
Myconius of Francis Zing, who replied : ' ' Eveiy thing except tJie 
papal chair. ' ' At that time Rome feared Zwingli more than 
Luther, for the Saxon Reformer was not then so uncompro- 
mising in regard to the ceremonies of popery. Rome cursed 
Luther ; she courted Zwingli, and made both of them more 
terrible to herself. Eternal truth is not a subject for the arts of 
diplomacy. 

The pope's messengers went straight to Constance to tell Fabcr 
how sadly he had failed. They all felt like fools, and wished 
that they had never gone to Zurich on such en-ands. In their 
vexation they discussed i)lans for crushing the Reformer. They 
would rouse the papal cantons against him. The Diet must force* 
liiui into silence. We will see farther on some of the results of 
their efforts among "the five cantons." Some men at Berne 
resolved to make Zwingli a prisoner whenever he could be met 
away from Zurich. At Lucerne the people made a man of straw, 
fastened his name to it, dragged it to the scaffold and there 
burned it as a heretic. They laid hands on some Zurichers who 



NEW TRIUMPHS. 173 

happened to be in the city, and compelled them to witness the 
mock execution. If Zwingli had been in their power, they would 
have gloried in putting him to death. But when he heard of it, 
he said : "I rejoice that I have been thought worthy to suffer 
shame for the name of Christ! I have borne no insult with 
more equanimity than this." 

Another conference was called for October. The bishops re- 
solved to show their contempt by .sending no delegates. Doctor 
Hofmeister was sent by Schaff hausen and made president ; Doc- 
tor Yadian was sent by St. Grail. These pastors and their co- 
labourers regarded themselves as true bishops. The ancient 
Presbyterian system began to be restored for the first time in 
Romish lands. We need not follow up the discussions upon 
matters of faith. They were listened to by nine hundred people 
in the great hall. The aged canon Hoffman undertook to defend 
the pope. He argued that simple pastors and laymen had no right 
to discuss such subjects. ' ' I was thirteen years at Heidelberg, ' * 
said he, "living in the house of a very great scholar, Doctor Jo- 
docus [Grallus] , a worthy and pious man, with whom I often ate 
and drank and led a merry life ; but I always heard him say that 

in matters of faith we must not dispute ; so you see " All 

were ready to burst with laughter, and the dignified burgomaster 
could scarcely keep order. 

It was settled at this conference that images should be put out 

of churches, that the saints should not be invoked, and that the 

mass was not to take the place of the Lord's Supper. The case 

of Hettinger, the shoemaker, came up, and the council was asked 

to set him and his companions at liberty. This was done, but 

Hettinger, having been the ringleader, was banished for two 

years from the canton. 

The confederate Diet soon met at Lucerne, and forbade the 
15 * 



174 UT.RICH ZWINGLI. 

people "to preach or repeat any new or Lutheran doctrine in 
public or private, or to talk of such things in taverns or over 
their wine." Hottinger was one day dining at the Angel tavern 
in Zurzach, on the Rhine, and said that the priests wrongly in- 
terpreted Scripture, and that man should put his trust in God 
alone. The landlord, going in and out, overheard this language, 
so extraordinary to him, and reported it. Hottinger did not let 
many such occasions pass without delivering his honest opinions. 
He was pursued, arrested and taken before the Diet at Baden. 
No time was lost in condemning him to be beheaded. When 
informed of the sentence he gave glory to God. "That will 
do," said one of his judges ; "we do not sit here to listen to ser- 
mons." On reaching the spot where he was to die, he raised 
his hands to heaven, exclaiming: "Into thy hands, my Re- 
deemer, I commit my spirit." One minute more and he was a 
martyr. Through much tribulation he entered into the kingdom 
of heaven. 

" Let us celebrate the Lord's Supper according to the Scrip- 
tural mode," said the Zurich ministers to each other. This 
was done for the first time, probably, in all Switzerland, on the 
Christmas of 1523. The next step was to banish the images 
and repress the worship of the saints. Hoffman objected. 
But the council decreed that he and his party must keep silent, 
or be dismissed from the town and deprived of their benefices 
A few months later, twelve councillors, the throe parsons and a 
body of workmen went into the different churches, locked the 
doors, took down the crosses, removed the images, dashed out 
the paintings and restained the walls. The superstitious peo- 
ple wept; true believers rejoiced. Certain country churches 
followed the example, burning the idols, selling the ornaments 
and giving the proceeds to the poor, 



NEW TKIUMPHS. 



175 



The burgomaster Roust and his colleague had stood up nobly 
for the defence of the truth, but their work was done. At 
the very time this great change was working in the Church be- 
low, they departed, hopeful of rest in the Church above, and 
hailing with joy the triumphs of the Reformation. 




CHAPTER XV. 
HAK8 wibtb: and hjs sons. 

(1534.) 

ON the northern border of the canton of Zurich lived Hans 
Wirth, the deputy bailiff of Stamniheim, and the patriarch 
of a large and happy famil}^ His wife Hannah was revered 
tlirougliout the district as an example to mothers, for she reared 
her many children in the fear of the Lord. The two oldest sons, 
Adrian and John, were young priests full of piety and courage, 
who preached the gospel witli great fervour after the manner of 
Zwingli and Luther. John had the ardent zeal of one who was 
ready to sacrifice his life in the cause. Little did he suspect that 
he was soon to be a martyr. 

The love for office has alwaj^s been a dangerous foe to faith. 
A crafty man, named Amberg, had appeared to listen with de- 
light to the gos])el until he put himself forward as a politician. 
He wished to be one of the bailiffs of Thurgau, and he promised 
to root out the new doctrines if elected. Once made bailiff, he 
l)egan to sound aloud his hatred of the gospel and his threats 
a^'ainst its preaehers. But where should he find a victim ? 
There was no one in his district preaching the word with 
l)Ower. 

The worthy Exlin* had been confirmed in the new faith, when 



* Oechslin, or Q5xlin. 
176 



HANS WIRTH AND HIS SONS. 177 

Zwingli was with him at Einsidlen. He was anxious to preach 
the glad tidings of salvation. Going northward, he crossed the 
Rhine into the canton of Schaffhausen, and became pastor of 
Burg, not far from Stein, on the river. The Wirths were among 
his warmest friends. He did not dream of any danger from the 
noisy bailiff Amberg, for Exlin was not under his jurisdiction. 
But about midnight, July 7, 1524, some persons knocked at the 
pastor's door ; he admitted them and found himself in the hands 
of the bailiff's soldiers. They handled him so roughly that he 
thought them to be ruffians intent upon taking his life. He 
cried "Murder!" so loudly that his neighbours started from 
their sleep in affright, and soon the entire village was a scene of 
tumult and terror. The uproar spread to Stein. The sentinel 
on guard at the castle of Hohenklingen fired the alarm-gun. 
The bells were rung, the inhabitants were moving, the people of 
other villages joined them, all inquiring of one another in the 
darkness what was the matter, and prepared for any display of 
valour. Exlin was already bound as a prisoner and on the road 
to Frauenfield, where Amberg was waiting for his first victim. 

Hans Wirth and his two eldest sons heard the noise of tlie 
tumult in Burg, and went forth like their neighbours to quell it. 
The father was indignant that the bailiff of Frauenfield should 
violate the common law by going bej^ond his lines and seizing an 
innocent man. The sons were roused against the man who had 
stolen away the friend whose example they had delighted to fol- 
low, dragging him off by night as a criminal. Each of them 
seized a halberd, and in spite of the pleadings of a mother and 
a tender wife, they joined the citizens of Stein in their determi- 
nation to rescue their beloved pastor. Deputy-bailiff Butiman 
also came, leading the men of Nussbaum. A large body of ex- 
cited men from both sides of the Bhine had assembled. The 



178 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

two deputies, Wirtli and Rutiman, were chosen as their leaders. 
They set out in swift pursuit of the kidnapping party : the more 
hardy and daring men hoped to overtake them, but they soon 
were obliged to halt. The river Thur could not be crossed ; the 
ferr3^-boat had been removed. 

The wiser men at once sent a delegation to Frauenfield, across 
the river, and requested the bailiff to liberate the pastor of 
Burg. They offered large bail. "The good man is so dear to 
us," said deputy Wirth, " that I would willingly give up my 
goods, my libeity and my life to have him set free." Contrary 
to custom and to all justice, Amberg refused to accept bail and 
free the prisoner. 

In the mean time the rage of the people increased. Unhap- 
pily, the signals of alarm had called forth many of those restless 
men who are always keen for a riot, and who refuse to be con- 
trolled when they cannot control themselves. They turned their 
attention to the rich convent of Ittingen, near at hand. In it 
had been three monks, who, unknown to each other, had each 
written to Zwingli for light in their darkness. They were 
taking courage, and might have reformed the cloister, if it had 
been permitted to stand. One of them, named Hesch, did af- 
terward labour for the truth. But these three good monks were 
not known to the mob. The rioters thought that the prior had 
been in the habit of stirring up the bailiff to measures of severity 
against the Reformed preachers. They could not be restrained 
by the deputies put in command. The doors of the monastery 
were burst open, and these disorderly wretches, hungry and 
tliirsty, eager for plunder and violence, rushed in, damaging the 
church, breaking the furniture, burning the books, ransacking 
the store-rooms, entering the cellar and revelling in wine. The 
drunken i>easants could not be managed. Hans Wirth entreated 



HA^S AVIRTH AND HIS SONS. 179 

them to leave the convent ; they turned and threatened him 
with violence. Rutiman could do nothing. John Wirth en- 
tered, but soon came back distressed at what he had seen. The 
poor monks trembled for their lives, and gave up all to the 
mob. 

Post-haste went a messenger to Zurich ; the grave council sent 
back deputies, who ordered all persons under their jurisdiction 
to return to their homes. They obeyed. But the Thurgovians 
knew no master, and still held their revels at the expense of the 
friars. On a sudden a fire broke out and the monastery was 
burned to the ground. It was reported that a boy had been 
wounded by a furious boar belonging to the convent, and his 
father was so angry that he took his revenge by kindling the 
flames. But the blame was to be charged to the innocent. The 
smoking embers of the Carthusian monastery made hot the 
wrath of the papal cantons against the Reformers. 

The confederate Diet had already been in session, refusing 
Zurich a representation. The papists were thus the first to 
break the federal unity of the cantons. They had been taking 
council against the believers in the gospel. And now the report 
of the uprising in the north reached their ears. Five days after 
the burning of the convent, the deputies of the cantons met at 
Zug. Nothing was heard in the assembly but threats of ven- 
geance and death. "Let us march with banners flying upon 
Stein and Stammheim," said they, "and put the inhabitants to 
the sword. Let us fall upon Zurich also, if she does not root out 
heresy. ' ' 

"Hans Wirth, his sons and Eutiman are the ringleaders," 
said some. "They set fire to the convent, or at least urged 
others to doit." A Zurich deputy appeared to vindicate the 
canton, and he said : " If any one be guilty, let him be punished, 



180 UI.RICH ZWIxXGLI. 

not by violence, but by law." Vadian of St. Gall supported 
this opinion. Upon this tlie mayor of Lucerne, unable to re- 
strain his fury, exclaimed, with frightful oaths and curses : '' The 
heretic Zwingli is the father of all these insurrections ; and 
you too, Doctor Vadian of St. Gall, favour his infamous cause 
and aid him in securing its triumph. You ought no longer to 
have a seat in the Diet. ' ' 

" Order, order !" cried the president, but the stormy passions 
were not to be calmed by words. Vadian saw his danger. He 
left the hall, departed secretly from the town, and by a circuitous 
route took refuge in the convent of Cappel until he could safely 
return to his home. It was resolved by the deputies and council 
to order Zurich to arrest those who were accused and give them 
a trial. 

Adrian Wirth was quietly preaching from the pulpit at home, 
and saying, "Never will the enemies of God be able to vanquish 
his friends." His father was warned of the fate impending over 
him, and entreated to flee with his family. " No," he replied, 
"I will wait for the officers, putting my trust in God." The 
soldiers came to his house ; they expected resistance, but he 
calmly said to them: " My lords of Zurich might have spared 
themselves all this trouble; if they had sent only a child, I 
would have obeyed the summons." The three Wirths and their 
neighbour Eutiman were taken to Zurich and put in prison. 
For three weeks they were closely questioned, but nothiuir was 
found in their conduct wortliy of punishment. Zurich was ready 
to set them free. But the other cantons were not satisfied. 
They said in the Diet: "Let them be sent to Baden, where all 
the confederate deputies can sit in common court and hear the 
case. ' ' 

"Not so," replied the Zurichers. "To our canton belongs 



HANS WIRTH AND HIS SONS. 181 

the right to ascertain whether these men are guilty or not, and 
we have found no fault in them." 

"Will you send them to us?" angrily asked the other can- 
tons. ' ' Answer yes or no, and not a word more. If not, we 
will fetch them by force. ' ' Two Zurich deputies mounted their 
horses and rode with all haste to their constituents. On their 
arrival the whole town was in agitation. What was to be done? 
War was threatening the only canton that had declared for the 
lleformation. It was what the papal cantons wished. They 
could sweep out the party that gathered around Zwingli. They 
could blame him for all the disturbances and for the civil war, 
just on the same principle that Abel was to blame for making 
occasion for Cain to slay him. If Abel had only offered the 
same sacrifice as Cain, there need have been no enmity. Thus 
some men still reason ; thus they held in Zwingli' s time. If the 
prisoners were not sent to Baden, the confederates would come 
down upon Zurich with an armed force, and she could not resist 
the whole power of the other cantons ; but if she gave them up, 
it would be consenting to their death. 

"What does Zwingli say ?" was the question. 

"Zurich ought to remain faithful to her constitution," was his 
reply, " and defend her own citizens ; the prisoners ought not to 
be surrendered. ' ' 

"Compromise is better than war," said those who sought a 
middle course. "Let us deliver them over on this one condi- 
tion, that they be examined solely with regard to the affair of 
Ittingen, and not upon their faith." The Diet agreed to this 
proposal. Let this fact be noted, for it will furnish an instance, 
of what the pledges of the papists were worth in those times. 

It was a sad hour when four councillors and an armed troop 
started with the prisoners for Baden. " Alas ! what a miserable 

16 



182 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

setting out that was ! ' ' said one of the mourning citizens. The 
people filled the streets, crowded to the gates, and then to the 
churches. "God will punish us," cried Zwingli from the pul 
pit. "Let us pray him to impart grace to the prisoners, and 
make them strong in faith." 

At evening the accused entered Baden, where an immense 
crowd was waiting for them, almost preventing their advance. 
Hans Wirth, who walked in front, said to his soils: " See, dear 
children, we are, as the apostle says, men appointed unto death, 
for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels and to 
men." (1 Cor. iv. 9.) In the gaping crowd he saw his enemy 
Amberg, the cause of all his misfortunes. Wirth pressed near 
him, held out his hand, which the bailiiF would gladly have 
spurned, and said: "There is a God in heaven who knows all 
things ; you need not be so furious against us. ' ' 

Hans Wirth was first examined, on the following day. He 
was put to the torture without the least respect to his age, cha- 
racter or office. He persisted in declaring tliat he was innocent 
of the pillage and burning of Ittingen. Witnesses sustained 
him, and a letter from the prior of the convent proved that he 
had made every effort to save it from destruction. He was then 
charged with having destroyed an image of St. Anne. The more 
innocent he appeared, the greater was the cruelty inflicted. 
From morning until noon he was tortured. His tears could not 
soften his judges. The prisoners were now examined about the 
abolition of the mass and images. "This is contrary to the 
agreement," said a Zurich deputy. 

" We know what we are about," rejoined a member from Lu- 
cerne, with insolence, "and we act according to orders." The 
Zurich deputies refused to sit in such a faithless court, and rod 
home to make a report and secure help for the persecuted. But 



HANS WTRTH AND HIS SONS. 183 

the triiii went on. Nothing could be proved against Adrian 
Wirth, except that he had preached after the manner of Zwin- 
gli and was married, and for that he had good Bible authority, 
which his judges did not care to hear. John Wirth was tortured, 
and accused of having given the sacrament to a sick man with- 
out bell or taper. " Who taught you these heretical doctrines?" 
inquired his judges when he was in the severest agony. "Did 
Zwingli, or some other person?" He cried out in torture, ''0 
merciful and eternal Grod, help and comfort me." One of his 
judges said, tauntingly, "Where is your Christ now? Let your 
Christ help you." 

Adrian was put to the rack. A Bernese chevalier, who had 
won honours in the wars of Palestine, said to him: " Young man, 
tell us the truth ; for if you refuse, I swear by the knighthood 
that I gained on the very spot where the Lord suffered martyr- 
dom, that we will open your veins one after another. You have 
waylaid j^our old father with this accursed doctrine, and are to be 
the death, of him, for we shall do our utmost to tear up this 
heresy by the roots. ' ' 

"Do not storm so," replied Adrian, "but have mercy and 
hear the truth quietly." He was fastened to a rope, hoisted into 
the air and jeered for being married, for the knight pointed to 
the rope and said : " There, my little master, is your wedding- 
present for your new housewife." Eutiman was spared the tor- 
ture. The victims were thrust into jail, there to pine away until 
the court of the cantons should meet again. 

Four weeks passed. The wife of Hans Wirth went to Baden, 
carrying an infant in her arms, to intercede with the judges. Her 
advocate, Escher, said to Jerome Stocker, who had been twice 
bailiff of Frauenfield, " You know the deputy-bailiff Wirth, 
that he has always been an upright man. ' ' The reply was : "It 



184 ULRICH ZWINGLT. 

is even as j^ou say. I have never known a more honest, faithful 
officer than Wirth ; in joy or in sorrow his home was open to all; 
his house was like an inn or a convent. If he had committed 
robbery or muider, I would help to spare him ; but seeing that 
he has burned the image of St. Anne, Christ's grandmother, he 
must die." 

"God forbid," replied Escher, "that a pious man who has 
burned nothing but wooden images should find less mercy than 
a thief or murderer. This will have a bad ending." The doors 
were shut. The court, made up of papists, spared Adrian on 
account of his mother's entreaties. But sentence of death was 
passed upon the other three prisoners. Hans Wirth said to 
Adrian in the prison : ' ' My son, since God spares you, see that 
you never avenge our innocent deaths." The son burst into 
tears. "Brother," said John, "you know that we have faith- 
fully preached the Word, but where the Word is, there will be 
the cross." 

The three prisoners were led to the town-hall, through the 
midst of a jeering, taunting multitude, to hear their sentence. 
The statements made by them when under torture were read, 
but were so changed and falsified that Hans Wirth could not 
repress his indignation. ' ' Let it pass, dear father, ' ' said John. 
"Anti-Christ must always resort to lies. One day the great 
judgment will be held, and then every fidschood will be ex- 
posed." They were handed over to the executioners. In 
passing a chapel the priest said to the two older men, "Fall 
down and call upon the saints." 

" Father, be firm," said John. " Why should we kneel before 
wood and stone ? You know there is one Mediator, the Lord 
Jesus. * ' 

"Assuredly, my son," replied the aged man, "and by his 



HANS WIRTH AND HIS SONS. 185 

grace I will remain faithful." Upon this the three went on re- 
peating the Lord's Prayer. They reached the scaffold. 

^'Deai-est father," said John, "henceforth you are no longer 
my father, nor am I your son, but we are brothers in Christ, for 
whose name we suffer. To day, if it be God's will, we shall go 
to him who is the Father of us all. Fear nothing." 

"Amen," said the father; "and may the AJmighty bless 
thee, my dear son and brother in Christ." The most of the 
spectators were in tears as the three martyrs knelt, and com- 
mending themselves to God, received the stroke of the axe. 
The people saw the marks of torture upon their bodies, and gave 
loud expression to their grief Two innocent patriarchs had 
been beheaded, leaving behind them twenty-two children and 
forty-five grandchildren. At first their property was confiscated, 
but it was afterward partly restored when Hannah Wirth paid a 
large sum to the executioner who had taken away her husband's 
life. Adrian Wirth became a country pastor in the canton of 
Zurich, where he laboured forty years with success. The parson 
Exlin was dragged from one prison to another, cruelly treated, 
and finally set at liberty. He too laboured in a country parish 
of Zurich. 

The death of the Wirths was to hasten forward the Reforma- 
tion. When Hottinger was executed, Zurich suppressed images; 
after the Wirths had been beheaded, Zurich set to work to abol- 
ish the mass. There were many warm discussions before the 
council in regard to the "real presence," or transubstantiation. 
Am-Gruet the under-secretary of state, seemed to be the chief 
opponent of Zwingli, for he probably understood the subject 
more fully than the priests. He insisted that the words, This 
is my body, proved that the bread used in the Lord's Supper 

was really the body of Christ. Therefore the wafer (or host) 
16* 



186 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

was really Christ, and he was honoured in the mass by the lift- 
ing up of the host. 

''The word is in the text means signifies or represents,''^ said 
Zwingli. ''This represents my bod3^" The Great Council was 
convinced when Zwingli quoted such texts as these : "I am the 
Vine ; " "The seed is the Word ; " "The rock was Christ. ' ' 
The members wished to make broad the gulf between the Re- 
formed Church and the papacy. They ordered the mass to be 
suppressed (April, 1525), and decreed that the Lord's Supper 
should be observed without it, according to the custom of the 
apostles. 

Zwingli wished to find a still stronger text to prove his point. 
One evening he searched the Scriptures, but could not find what 
he sought. He went to sleep with his mind engrossed by the 
subject, for he wished to put Am-Gruet to silence. In a dream 
beseemed to be visited by some person, who said: "Why do 
you not quote the words in Exodus (xii. 11), "Ye shall eat it 
(the Lamb) in haste; it is the Lord's passover," Zwingli 
sprang from his bed, took up his Greek version of the Old Tes- 
tament, and there found that " ts" must mean signifies, for the 
lamb could not be the act of an angel passing over the houses of 
the Hebrews. The next day he preached from that text and won 
a greater victory. 




CHAPTER XVI. 

A JLOOK WJESTWAJm, 
(1534.— 1536.) 

THE good work was progressing nobly in St. Gall under the 
direction of Doctor Vadian, the preacher, teacher and bur- 
gomaster. He lectured on the New Testament in the style of his 
old friend Zwingli. One of the people said : " Here in St. Gall 
it is not only allowed to hear the word of God, but the magis- 
trates themselves teach and preach it. ' ' Of the troubles caused 
by certain fanatics we shall speak on other pages. 

In the heart of the canton of St. Gall lies the little valley can- 
ton of Appenzell. One of its young men, Walter Klarer, was 
educated at Paris, and was doubtless one of the young Swiss 
who tossed up their hats with joy when they heard that Zwingli 
had been called to Zurich. He read the writings of the Re- 
formers, and returning to his native valley he began to preach 
the gospel with all his energy. The inn-keeper Rausberg, a 
member of the council, a rich and pious man, opened his house 
to all the friends of truth. About this time a famous Captain 
Berweger returned from Rome, having been fighting for the 
popes. He began to wage war upon the evangelical Christians. 
But one day he remembered what wickedness he had seen in 
Rome, and opened his Bible to see who were in the right. He 
read with astonishment the words of Christ. He attended the 
sermons of the new preachers and embraced the gospel. When 

187 



188 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

he saw the crowds which could not find room in the churches, he 
said, *' Let the ministers preach in the fields and public places." 
As a great captain thus lifted the standard, the people rallied 
to his call, and in spite of a violent opposition, the meadows 
became like cathedrals, and the mountains echoed with the 
tidings of salvation. 

Zwingli wrote to the zealous preacher, James Schurtanner : 
*' Your zeal is a balsam of life to believers. M}^ heart leaped for 
joy when we heard that the pious people of Appenzell had re- 
ceived the word of God. It is to be hoped that, although their 
canton is the last in the order of the confederacy,^ it will not be 
the last in the faith. Christian doctrine and practice can be no- 
where more easily planted than among a people unschooled in 
the deceitful arts of the world. Salute your faithful fellow- 
workers, the bishop of Gais, Bernardin, and all who hold truly to 
God, and pray for me with all j^our people." 

A Zurich Christian, named James Burkli, went southwest- 
ward from his home, perhaps dining with George Binzli at 
Wesen, and looking in upon the native place of his good pastor 
Zwingli. Then crossing the Rhine and entering Flasch, the first 
village of the Grisons, he went into the house of the saddler, 
Christian Anhorn, who listened with wonder to the tidings of hi^ 
guest. The villagers invited the stranger to preach to them in 
the church. He was not a priest, and dared not ascend the pul- 
pit. Taking his station in front of the altar, he opened to his 
surprised hearers the words of the blessed life. Anhorn stood 
near with a troop of armed men to protect him from any sudden 
attack. Many of the people dared to believe. The nimour of 
this j)rcaching spread far and wide, so that the church was 



♦ Appenzell joined the Swiss league in 1513. 



A LOOK WESTWARD. 189 

thronged on the next Sabbath. In a short time the majority of 
the people demanded a reform. They wished to have the Lord's 
Supper administered in the mode observed by the apostles, and 
with one consent soon abolished the mass. 

But the neighbouring people of Mayenfield took the alarm. 
The priests were at work. On a sudden they rang their bells, 
gathered the affrighted villagers, described the fearful dangers 
that were threatening the Church, and then marched at the head 
of the riotous crowd to Flasch. The saddler Anhorn, who was 
working in his field, heard the bells at the unusual hour, sus- 
pected an attack, returned home and hid Burkli in his cellar. 
The house was soon surrounded by the mob, the doors were 
broken down, the house was searched, but the preacher was not 
discovered. The angry persecutors left the place, but they had 
not driven thence the gospel. 

The parish priest of Mayenfield was John Frick, steeped to 
his eyes in popery, and a man of great note among his brethren. 
The new doctrines filled him with horror, especially when he saw 
that the men who were turning the world up side down had come 
into the quiet country of the Grisons.* "I'll go to Rome and 
learn from the holy father the best way to check this heresy 
from overrunning the land." To Rome he went, but the vices 
of the papal court shocked his simple mind. Italy seemed full 
of iniquity. He returned home a converted priest, and, joining 
the party that he had sought to expel, he became the Reformer 
of Mayenfield. In later years he used to say pleasantly to his 
friends : "Rome made me evangelical." A friend wrote to Va- 
dian : ' ' Oh that you could see how the dwellers in the Rhaetian 



* The Grisons belonged to the Swiss confederacy, and has been called 
Italian-Switzerland. 



190 ULRFCH ZWI'NGLI. 

Alps are throwing oiF the yoke of the Babylonian captivity !*' 
This friend was James Salandronius, or Salzman, who was pro- 
claiming the truth in Coire, the capital of the Grrisons. The 
schoolmaster of that town, John Comander, had written to 
Zwingli saying : " Your name is known in this country to many 
who approve of your doctrines, and who are weary of the way in 
which Rome extorts money from the people. ' ' A host of strong 
men were rising up in the Church, ready to resist the fanatics, 
who would soon attempt to flood the land with their blasphemies. 
But we leave them for a while, and return to Zurich by way of 
the Tockenburg valleys. 

When Andrew Zwingli was dying of the plague, he was able 
to tell his brothers at home something of the doctrines which 
Ulrich had been preaching. But they were not then alarmed 
about his heresy, for he had only begun to show himself a Re- 
former. Still later, Ulrich wrote to them, saying, *' When I hear 
that you live by the labour of your hands, as your fathers did be- 
fore you, I rejoice, because I see that you preserve the nobility 
you derive from Adam. But when I learn that some of you, at 
the risk of body and soul, serve for pay in the foreign wars, this 
grieves me to the heart. I lament that out of honest peasants 
and field-labourers, you make yourselves robbers and murderers 
of your fellow-men, for the mercenaries arc no better. God 
grant that you may never do the like again, as indeed 3^ou have 
l)roniised me. You should also give heed that I do my work 
faitlifully, for God has called me to it. Po not believe the in- 
famous reports which have been spread abroad concerning me. 
I know very well what my good friend, my lord of Fischengen,* 
our cousin, means. It is that I should go to work cautiously, lest 



* John Meili, brother of Zwingli's mother. 



A LOOK WESTWARD. 191 

great mischief befall me. May God reward the kind-hearted 
man for his good will. He has ever loved me as his own child, 
and I know he warns me in love. But be assured that no dan- 
ger can approach me which I have not well weighed. . . . You 
are my natural brothers, but if you be not my brethren in Christ 
I am sorry, because then I must renounce you, yea, leaving 
father and mother unburied, if you attempt to draw me away 
from God. I shall quietly wait whatever God intends for me. 
Christ our Lord was put to death. May God guide you. I re- 
main ever your brother, provided always that ye are brethren of 
Christ." 

These brothers began to be alarmed for Ulrich, as they heard 
of the bold stand he had taken and how fierce was the enmity 
against him. They pictured to themselves the worst fate ; they 
imagined him dragged to Constance and burned on the same 
spot where John Huss had been a martyr. These peasants were 
too proud to be called the brothers of a heretic. They wrote to 
him, describing their fears and anxious love. 

Earnest men preached through the valleys of the Tockenburg, 
and met with a warm reception. Zwingli was full of joy, hoping 
that his kindred would accept the glad tidings. He addressed 
a long letter to "To an honourable council, and to the whole 
community of his native country of Tockenburg. ' ' The people 
were just on the point of deciding whether they would receive 
the gospel or remain in popery. After giving them much sound 
doctrine and advice, he says : "I should have often written to 
you but for two causes of hindrance : Firsts because my enemies 
would have immediately cried out that I was seeking human aid 
and consolation through you, which, God be praised, I did not 
need, for the pious in Zurich have not allowed any injustice to be 
done me. Yet when a door opened to the gospel, I take not hoi- 



192 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

iday. Secondly^ because, willing as I have ever been to preach 
the gospel in the place of my birth, I have always been hindered 
from it. Be intrepid and undismayed: Do not be misled by the 
strange stories told about me. Every talker may call me heretic, 
but I know the devil cannot make me out one with you." 

This manly letter decided the victory of the gospel in the 
Reformer's native valley. The prophet had honour in his 
own country. In the same summer, 1524, the council de- 
clared that " the Word should be preached with one accord." 
But persecution began. Three ministers, Watteville, Doring 
and Farer, were accused by the abbot of St. Gall and the bishop 
of Coire, who had intermeddled with the affairs of his neighbours. 
These three men replied, quite in the spirit of Zwingli : '^ Con- 
vince us by the word of God and we will submit, even to the 
least of our Christian brethren : otherwise we will obey no man, 
not even the mightiest." The accusers went home wiser than 
they came. A circumstance shortly after occurred that roused 
the minds of these mountaineers. 

A popular meeting was held on St. Catharine's day at Lich- 
tensteig. The village was full of people. Two men of Schwj^tz, 
having come over on some law business, were sitting at a public 
table among the deputies. In conversation one of them said, 
*' Master Ulrich Zwingli is a heretic and a thief." 

*' That cannot be," said the Secretary of State. ''You must 
retract it or I will prosecute you by law." High words passed, 
and the noise drew general attention. 

''Surely they are speaking of Master Ulrich," said George 
Bruggman, Zwingli's uncle, who was sitting at a distant table, 
as he sprang angrily from his scat. 

Many others rose up, and followed him, as he sought ven- 
geance upon the accuser. The uproar increased. The bailiff 



A LOOK WESTWARD. 193 

hastily assembled the council in the open market-place to pre- 
vent a pitched battle. They prevailed on Bruggman to be con- 
tent withsaying*, "Master Ulrich is a pious, excellent, honest 
man, and whoever says the contrary is a liar, villain and thief.'* 
This was far from the gospel spirit, but it gave some satisfaction 
in those rough times. 

"Remember what you have just said," replied the two 
Schw;}^tzers, boiling over with rage, "and be sure we will not 
forget your words. ' ' They mounted their horses and rode home, 
to set their whole canton in motion against the Tockenburgers. 
But the latter, especially the men of Wildhaus, swore to stand 
by Zwingli to the last. 

Zwingli heard the mutters of the storm and wrote to his na- 
tive countrymen : " Be bold and fearless. Never mind the abuse 
against me. Befrain from insults, disorders and mercenary wars. 
Believe the poor, protect the oppressed and trust in Grod." The 
storm passed away without annihilating the Tockenburgers. The 
mass was displaced by the true ordinances, and the Bible was re- 
stored to the homes of the people. 

In Glaris the scholars and friends of Zwingli carried on the 
work with energy. Valentine Tschudi had letters from the Be- 
former, which aided him in advancing the kingdom of Christ. 
' ' The believer has no rest so long as he sees his brother in unbe- 
lief," said he; " therefore preach the good news." 

We have taken a circuit westward and mingled in the good 
company of men earnest for the gospel. To understand the 
troubles of our Beformer and his co-labourers, we must fall in 
with some of the worst fanatics that ever broached their impie- 
ties. The Beformers of that age throughout Europe had two 
kinds of strong enemies ; one, the Bomanists, clamorous for the 

old papacy ; the other, the extremists, who perverted the gospel 
17 



194 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

and made the noisiest cries for liberty. These latter were called in 
one place Anabaptists ; in another. Spiritual Libertines. There 
was no one great leader among them all. In each country some 
man arose and formed a sect of his own. We shall only no- 
tice certain of them who were most annoying to the Swiss 
Reformers. 

When Doctor Vadian came from St. Gall to marry the 
daughter of the highly-esteemed Senator Grebel in Zurich, he 
found a guest at the wedding whom the fiimily did not care to 
exliibit. This was Conrad, a brother of the bride. He was a 
youth of remarkable talents, violent toward all superstition, full 
of the most cutting satire, blustering, passionate, caustic and ill- 
natured. He was sent to Paris, where he sank in dissipation, 
protested his purity of life, and spoke ill of his neighbours. His 
vices rendered him unable to walk, and yet, being anxious to 
attend his sister's wedding, he suddenly appeared at home. The 
poor heart-broken father received the prodigal son with kind- 
ness ; his tender mother shed tears and forgave. But he was 
still the same depraved genius, without natural affection or de- 
cent respect. Some time after Vadian had returned home his 
mother was recovered from the brink of the grave. Conrad 
wrote to his brother-in-law: *'My mother has got well; she 
again rides the house ; she sleeps, she rises, she scolds, she 
breakfasts, quarrels, dines, disputes, sups, and is always a trouble 
to us. She trots about, heaps and hoards, toils and worries her- 
self to death, and will soon bring on a relapse.*' If she was 
such a woman as he describes, we may see some reason for his 
errors. But he, doubtless, wrote a slanderous sarcasm. Such 
was the man who would yet attempt to domineer over Zwingli 
and make a wreck of the Reformation. 

Conrad set up for a Reformer, and wished to drive on faster 



A LOOK WESTWARD. 195 

than Zwingli. Boasting himself to be somebody, he gathered 
about him other fanatics, and proposed to found a Chui'ch which 
would be more free than a pure Hberty would permit. '' Let us 
form a community of true believers," he said to Zwingh, "and 
have a Church in which there shall be no sin." 

"We cannot make a heaven upon earth," was the reply. 
" Christ has taught us that the tares grow along with the 
wheat." Conrad hardly dared to appeal to the people; he 
would take a bolder course. He drew to himself certain of the 
most reckless men, such as William Rubli, the fallen priest; 
Louis Hetzer, who had thrown out his firebrand against images; 
Thomas Munzer, who had fled from Grermany for his rash here- 
sies,^ and others more ignorant. They attempted to form a 
Church within the Eeformed Church. At first they had no party 
standard. But they soon took their badge ; it was re-haptism. 
All adults must be rebaptized — hence the term anabaptist. They 
declared infant baptism to be "a flagrant impiety, invented by 
the wicked spirit." Zwingli held public debates with them, but 
with no good result. They soon turned the Lord's Supper into 
an evening revel, rejected the ordination of preachers, said that 
no paid clergyman could preach the truth, recognized no au- 
thority in the State or the Church, claimed that they were free 
from all tithes and taxes, asserted that all property was to be 
held in common, and proclaimed other opinions which would de- 
file our pages. The council put some of them in prison, and 



* Thomas Munzer had been a preacher at Zwickau, where he fell in 
with the '^ Zwickau prophets/' and became the leader of the Anabaptists 
of Germany. Banished from Saxony, he went to Waldshut and raised an 
insurrection among the peasants. Later events drove him into Swit- 
zerland. 



196 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

banished several foreigners of their band. But this only mad- 
dened their zeal. 

'' Not by words alone," they cried, " but by our blood will we 
bear our testimony. ' ' Some of them girded themselves with cords, 
and with willow twigs ran through the streets, crying aloud, 
' ' Yet a few days and Zurich will be destroyed ! Woe to thee, 
Zurich !" Fourteen men, among whom was Felix Mantz, who 
had sought to be professor of Hebrew, and seven women, were 
imprisoned and put on bread and water in the heretic's tower. 
Zwingli had protested against this punishment. After being 
there a fortnight, they loosened some planks in the floor and 
escaped, saying, *'An angel opened the prison and led us 
forth." 

A monk from Coire, named Blaurock, on account of his blue 
dress, joined the sect, and from his eloquence was called by them 
'* a second Paul." He had travelled from place to place, rebap- 
tizing all whom he could delude. His blasphemies were shock- 
ing ; he claimed to be a second Christ, calling himself "the 
door," *'the good shepherd," 'Hhe beginning of the baptism 
and of the bread of the Lord." 

Conrad G rebel went to St. Gall, and there set up what he 
called "The Little Jerusalem," greatly to the annoyance of the 
excellent Vadian. To it he drew numbers from Zurich, Appen- 
zell and other cantons. Zwingli's heart was wrung at the spread 
of this wickedness. He wrote a book against these errors ; the 
council of St. Gall ordered it to be read in the churches. Once, 
wlion it was being read, a man exclaimed : " Give us the word 
of God, and not the word of Zwingli." Other voices were 
lifted: "Away with the book I" After service the fanatics raised 
the most foolish disorders. They skipped through the streets, 
danced in a ring, tumbled in the dust. Some burnt the New 



A LOOK WESTWARD. 197 

Testament; others pretended to have had revelations from 
heaven. 

In a village near to St. Gall lived John Schucker, with his five 
sons. They all, with their domestics, received the wild doc- 
trines. Two sons, Thomas and Leonard, became noted in the 
sect. They killed a fatted calf, made a feast, and spent the 
night in revels and visions. The next morning, Thomas, who 
seems to have lost his reason, went through various ceremonies, 
and felt commissioned to take the life of his brother Leonard. 
The family were called to the scene, where Leonard was kneel- 
ing, and with a sword he struck off his head, claiming that he 
was doing God's will. The bystanders recoiled with horror; the 
farm resounded with groans and wailings. Thomas, not half 
dressed, rushed barefoot and bareheaded out of the house, ran 
to St. Gall like a madman, entered the doors of the burgomaster 
Vadian, crying, " I proclaim to thee the day of the Lord!" 

The frightful news spread through the town. The fanatic was 
seized, and after a trial was put to death. This event brought 
the people to their senses. The reign of this iniquity was ended 
in St. Gall. But it travelled on to the country of the Grisons. 
Three parties grew up in that region : that of the fanatics, that 
of the Eeformers, and that of the persecuting papists. 

A public disputation was held at Ilantz. The Grisons were 
largely represented. The vicar of the bishop sought to evade 
the discussion. *' These debates lead to great expense," said he. 
*' I am ready to lay down ten thousand florins in order to meet 
the costs : but the opposite party must do as much. ' ' This was 
a new trick. 

''If the bishop has ten thousand florins at his disposal," 

cried out a rough voice in the crowd, "it is from us that he 

has wrung them. To give as much more to these poor priests 
17* 



198 ULKICH ZAVINGI.T. 

would be too bad." The peasant spoke from a knowledge of 
the facts. 

''We are poor people with eiui)ty purses," said Comander, 
the schoolmaster of Coire ; " we have hardly the means tobuy 
our bread: where can we raise ten thousand florins?" Every one 
laughed at the vicar's proposal and the business proceeded. 

Among the spectators were Sebastian Hofmeister and Jaraes 
Amman of Zurich. They held in their hands the Bible in 
Greek and Hebrew. The vicar desired that all strangers should 
be excluded. "We have come" said Hofmeister, "to see that 
no violence is done to Scripture. Yet, rather than prevent the 
conference, we will retire." 

"Ah," exclaimed a priest, looking at the books of the 
Zurichers, "if the Greek and Hebrew languages had never 
entered our country, there would have been fewer heresies."* 
Another said * "St. Jerome has translated the Bible for us ; we 
do not want the books of the Jews." The visitors were finally 
permitted to remain, for the priests feared the people. Then 
Comander stood up and read the first of the theses which he had 
published: " The Christian Church is born of the word of God ; 
it must abide by this Word, and listen to no other voice." He 
proved his doctrine, " setting down his foot with the firmness of 
an ox," says an eye-witness. 

"There is too much of this I" said the vicar. He wished to 
adjourn the conference. Then a man arose from tlic crowd, 
tossed his arms, knitted his brows, blinked his eyes, and ap- 
peared out of his senses. He rushed toward Comander, and 
many thought that he was about to strike him. He was a 



* Quito the same had boon (U'rlared in the SorltMnno of Paris, not many 
years hcfnre. 



A LOOK WESTWARD. 199 

schoolmaster of Coire. *'I have written down several ques- 
tions, ' ' said he ; " answer them instantly. ' ' 

*'Iam here," said Comander, " to defend my doctrines : attack 
them and I will discuss with you ; if not, return to your place : I 
will answer you when I am through." The excited man re- 
turned to his seat, saying, "Very well." He bided his time. 
When the doctrine of the sacrament came up, he arose and argued 
that the bread was really the body of the Lord, for he said, 
*' This is my body." 

" My dear Berre," said Comander, "how do you understand 
the words, John is Elias ?" 

" I understand that John was really and essentially Elias." 

" Why then did John the Baptist say that he was not Elias?" 
The schoolmaster was silent, until at length he said : "It is 
true." Every one began to laugh, and the champion held his 
peace. Seven priests were convinced of their errors and devoted 
themselves to the truth. The Romish worship was abolished in 
many churches ; complete religious liberty was proclaimed. Sa- 
landronius wrote : ' ' The doctrines of Christ grew up everywhere 
in those mountains as the tender grass of spring, and the pas- 
tors were like living fountains watering those lofty valleys." In 
later years hundreds of refugees from Italy and Spain sought 
rest from persecution and found a welcome among the Grisons.* 

The fanatic, Blaurock, still wrought mischief at Zurich. The 
council ordered his companion Mantz to be cast into the lake 
and drowned, as an example to the lawless and lewd sect. This 
did not check the shameful disorders. Blaurock was scourged 
and banished. As he was led out of the city, he shook his blue 



* McCrie*s Reformation in Italy, chap. vi. Presbyterian BooTd of 
Publication, 



200 ULKTCH 2WINGLI. 

blouse and stamped the dust from his feet against that city. It 
seems that he went to the T^^rol, where the Romanists burned 
him aUve. Zwingh took no part in these severities. 

The father of Conrad Greble ran in debt through his gener- 
osity and his extravagance. He then was tempted to receive a 
foreign pension, although the penalty was death. His bribery 
came to light, and the aged senator gave his snow-white head to 
the block. His son Conrad had been the chief cause of all his 
misfortunes. He said that he could not pardon his ruined son, 
but he begged the authorities to do it. What was the end of 
Conrad does not appear. 




CHAPTER XVII. 

A NEW CHAMPION. 

(1536,) 

THE monks of St. Bridget, near Augsburg, had a good repu- 
tation for piety and for their profound and liberal studies. 
About the first of the year 1520 there came to their gates a man 
seeking a retreat for leisure, study and prayer. He asked the 
friars, " Can I live among you according to the word of God?" 
This was (Ecolampadius. Six years before, Zwingli had been 
roused by his preaching when on a visit to Basle. He had re- 
turned to his native Weinsburg, where he was soon disgusted 
with the disorders and profane jests of the priests. He had 
been invited, in 1518, to Augsburg, as cathedral preacher, but 
finding that city agitated by the late debates between Luther 
and Dr. Eck, he refused the appointment. It was a time when 
he must decide whether he would remain a papist or cast his lot 
with the Beformers. He inclined to the side of Luther. This 
frankness soon raised up enemies against him. The times were 
in confusion, the world seemed to be shaken with moral earth- 
quakes, the Church was in a tempest, and this mild, peace-loving 
man feared to expose himself to the storm. He fixed his eyes 
on the convent of St. Bridget, and the monks assured him that 
he could live among them ' ' according to the word of God. ' ' He 

entered the monastery on the express condition that he should 

201 



202 ULKICH ZWINGLI. 

be free, if ever the service of the gospel should call him into the 
field. 

" It was well," says D'Aubigne, " that the future Reformer 
of Basle should, like Luther, become acquainted with that mo- 
nastic life which is the highest expression of Roman Catholic- 
ism. But here he found no repose ; his friends blamed the step ; 
and he himself openly declared that Luther was nearer the 
truth than his adversaries. At this time (Ecolampadius was 
neither Reformed nor a follower of Rome; he desired a 
certain purified Catholicism, which is nowhere to be found in 
history, but the idea of which has bridged the way for many 
minds. ' ' 

He began to point out to the monks certain errors in their 
books, their rules and their practice. Their anger was stirred up 
at once, and they exclaimed, "Heretic! apostate! you deserve 
to be thrown into a dungeon for the rest of j^our days." They 
forbade him to attend the public prayers — a strange way to bring 
back a wanderer. But human nature was not well understood in 
convents, nor among papists, who had so long domineered over 
men that they had forgotten the arts of persuasion. There were 
other dangers. Doctor Eck had an 03^0 upon him, and was 
breathing out his threats. 

" Tn three days," said the monks, " the party of Doctor Eck 
will be here to arrest you. ' * 

*' Will j^ou give me up to the assassins?" he inquired. The 
friars gave no answer ; they neither wished to save In'm nor to 
destroy him. Some friends learned of his danger. At just the 
right hour they came to the convent with horses to carry him to 
a i)lac^ of safety. The monks resolved to allow the departure of 
a brother who had brouglit too independent a mind into their 
cloister. He had been there nearly two years. ** Farewell/* 



A NEW CHAMPION. 203 

said he, and he was free. He was saved ; he began to breathe a 
better air. 

*'I have sacrificed the monk,'* he wrote, *'and I have re- 
gained the Christian." But his flight was known everywhere; 
his heretical writings excited suspicion wherever he went. The 
people shrank back at his approach. He knew not what would 
become of him, until the knight Francis Sickengen opened to 
him the castle of Ebernburg. There he preached to Ulrich Hut- 
ten and other noble warriors, who wished to fight popery with 
sword and bombshells. He was not military enough in his ser- 
mons for them. But there, in a castle among illiterate warriors, 
this "most humble man of his age" was putting on another 
armor than that which glittered and clattered to no purpose. 

The bookseller Cratander invited him to Basle, for booksellers 
had a vast influence in those times. They were generally men of 
high literary culture. The invitation was cheerfully accepted, 
and in 1522 he was greeted by his old friends in that city. 
There he lived simply as a man of learning, with no public occu- 
pation, until he was named as the curate of St. Martin's church. 
This call to a humble and obscure parish had much to do in de- 
ciding the Beformation in Basle. An attentive audience filled 
the church whenever he preached. His public lectures were so 
successful that even Erasmus wrote, ' ' (Ecolampadius triumphs 
among us." 

Zwingli rejoiced, saying, "This mild yet firm man spreads 
around him the sweet savour of Christ, and all who crowd about 
him grow in the truth. ' ' It was often rumoured that he would 
be forced to leave Basle and resume his perilous pilgrimage. His 
friends were alarmed, but fresh victories made him more safe 
and calmed their fears. Luther heard of him, and talked with 
Melanchthon every day about the new ally. Yet Luther had some 



204 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

fears lest he should be too much under the power of Erasmus, 
who was playing the trimmer to please Rome. The Saxon Re- 
former wrote to him, to put him on his guard : *'I much fear 
that Erasmus, like Moses, will die in the land of Moab, and 
never lead us into the land of promise. ' ' 

It was during these days that William Farel, *' the Bayard of 
the battles of God," escaped from France and found a refuge in 
the house of (Ecolampadius. The bold, adventurous, powerful 
Frenchman needed schooling under the mild, even-tempered 
Franconian. Unlike as they were in nature, they loved each 
other with a love that works conformity. One imparted his fire, 
the other his gentleness. It was in the house of the Reformer 
of Basle that Farel was ordained to the work of the ministry, 
and he went from it to become the first Reformer in French- 
Switzerland, second to no other in the fervour of his spirit, the 
ardour of his prayers, the power of his stormy eloquence, and 
the boldness of his adventures in capturing the strongholds of 
the pope and the prince of darkness. We have traced his ro- 
mantic life, and one of its most interesting periods relates to the 
time when he was the guest of the man who was *' the light of 
the house." 

The gentle preacher at St. Martin's had decided between Rome 
and the Reformation; now he must decide another question. He 
could see that Luther and Zwingli were the two leading Re- 
formers of that period. He could see that they agreed in the 
great doctrines pertaining to Christ. But they held different 
views in regard to certain ordinances of the Church, especially 
tlie Lord's Supper. On no other subject were the Reformers so 
long in coming at the simple truth. They all rejected the 
Romish doctrine of transubstantiation. Luther held that the 
bread and wine were not cliangcd into the real body and blood of 



A NEW CHAMPION. 205 

Christ ; but yet that the body of Christ was present in the 
sacred symbols, and was received by the communicant. This 
was the doctrine of the real presence. Zwingli held that the 
bread and wine were merely symbols of the body and blood of 
Christ, and memorials of his death and his love. A long and 
earnest controversy was beginning ; every man must take sides 
with one of the great rising parties. 

On which side would QGcolampadius take his stand? He 
sought for light and guidance ; he studied the Scriptures and 
agreed with Zwingli. Entering the lists, he sent forth a little 
book on the meaning of the Lord's words : " This is my body." 
He understood it to mean. This is the symbol of my body. It is 
said that this book ' ' excited an immense sensation, not only in 
Basle, but in all Germany. ' ' Luther did not expect it. He was 
far from being pleased. But Zwingli felt that a new champion 
had been won to his cause. 

Affairs in Switzerland were in a critical state. The Romanists 
were moving heaven and earth to put down the new doctrines. 
Thej'' cried out that the Reformers were bringing ruin upon the 
confederacy. "All order is destroyed in the Church," said a 
chief of Lucerne. "The sacraments, the mother of God and 
the saints are despised, and terrible calamities threaten to dis- 
solve our praiseworthy confederation. ' ' They declared, ' ' Berne 
must renounce the evangelical faith. ' ' The Bernese councils de- 
creed that they would maintain "the ancient faith, the holy 
sacraments, the mother of God, the saints and the ornaments of 
the churches." Rome seemed to be regaining all her lost ground 
in the city where Haller had been so encouraged. All the mar- 
ried priests not born in the canton were banished ; they drove 
from their borders all who were suspected of Lutheranism ; they 

put every book sold by the booksellers under a rigid censorship 

18 



206 UI.RICH ZWINGLI. 

and burned the writings of the Eefonners. Haller was in dan- 
ger. John Faber, the vicar, declared publicly and falsely that 
Haller had bound himself before the council to restore the mass 
and preach the doctrines of Rome. The five papal cantons were 
creating trouble and charging it upon Zurich and Berne, which 
had nestled the Reformation. 

The times demanded a public discussion. The Romanists in- 
sisted upon it. They had pronounced such debates unlawful 
when they knew that they would be beaten, but now they hoped 
to win by force, and debates were lawful enough if they could 
be the gainers. They looked about for a champion. Doctor 
Eck offered himself He feared nothing, and hoped to call forth 
Zwingli and finish him. ''Zwingli has, no doubt, milked more 
cows than he has read books," said he, sneering at the shepherd 
of the Tockenburg. He had disputed with Luther and Carl- 
stadt, and been richly rewarded by the pope. Also the papists 
were raising large sums for Eck, as money was never his aversion. 

Where should the discussion be held ? Zwingli wrote to the 
boasting Eck: "What need have you of addressing me to ap- 
point a time and place to dispute ? If you are so eager for it, 
come to Zurich when you choose. The gates of this city will 
stand open to you at all times, and I shall know how to answer 
you, depend upon it. If I have led my people astray, it is rea- 
sonable that I should be made to lead them back in the right 
path, by having it proved in their presence that I am a false 
teacher. Set off, then, on a journey to Zurich." The council 
sent messengers with a pressing invitation and a safe-conduct to 
Doctor Eck. *' I cannot go," replied the cmrf v VoV : ''T hnvo 
made other arrangements with the Diet." 

The arrangements of the confederate Diet were to draw Zwin- 
gli out of his city, where he had strong defenders, and get him 



A NEW CHAMPION. 207 

into the hands of the Komanists, They sent him a safe-conduct 
to Baden, a small town and watering-place in Argau, and fixed 
the time for the conference in May, 1526, '' Nay,'' said the 
Zurich council, " our Reformer shall not go to Baden, nor, as he 
proposes, to St. Gall, or Schaffhausen ; for, by an article of the 
fedei-al union, every accused person should be tried at the place 
of his abode, Zwingli is bound to defend himself only in 
Zurich." 

It was most happy that Zwingli had something to restrain 
him. There was danger threatening him. He saw the trap and 
boldly replied to the 'Diet, *' How can you ask me to throw my- 
self into the power of my foes ? Do I not know that they re- 
solved two years ago to seize me wherever they could find me 
out of my canton ? * In Friburg they burned my writings ; in Lu- 
cerne, my effigy. I well know who advise me to put myself in 
their hands. Is it not a common saying among them that they 
are not bound to hold a safe-conduct with heretics? Has not one 
of their chiefs said that his great desire was to hang Zwingli?" 
It was quite plain that if Zwingli should go to Baden, the '' end 
of controversy" would be the death of the Reformer. '* If we 
had him once here," said a member from Lucerne, '' he should 
have prison-diet for the rest of his days. " 

" I entreat you, as you value your life," wrote his brother-in- 
law, Leonard Trenip, ''do not go to Baden. I know that they 
will not respect the safe-conduct." A fanatic wrote him, "Zwin- 
gli, I warn you that your hour is come." It was said that a plan 
was laid to seize him, gag him, throw him into a boat, carry him 
to some secret place, and deal with him according to the mercy of 
the Diet In all this one can see the hand of Faber, who had 
not rested since the day that he had felt the deepest chagrin be- 
cause the Reformer had refused the "brilliant promises" of the 



208 ULRICH ZWINGLT. 

pope. Zwingli avoided the snare so clumsily set, and the coun- 
cil of Zurich firmly refused to let him appear at Baden. 

Who then would appear against the redoubtable Doctor Eck? 
The mild, retiring, peaceable (Ecolampadius found himself a 
chosen hero before he suspected it. At first " he hesitated, like 
a timid stag worried by furious dogs," says an old chronicle, but 
at last he resolved to go armed with the word of God. He went 
to Baden. He then wished Zwingli to share his danger, but was 
soon convinced that if the intrepid Swiss Eeformer were in that 
fanatical town, the very sight of him would kindle the anger of 
the Bomanists, and neither of them would 'escape death. Hal- 
ler took his place with the Eeformer of Basle. 

The papal party had all the advantages of pomp and preten- 
sion. " All the time the conference lasted," says the chronicler 
Bullinger, "Eck and his friends were lodged at the Baden par- 
sonage, faring sumptuously, living gayly and scandalously, and 
drinking much wine, with which the abbot of Wettingen pro- 
vided them. Eck took the baths at Baden (it was said), but. . . . 
in wine. The evangelicals, on the contrary, made a sorry ap- 
pearance, and the people laughed at them as a troop of beggars. 
Their way of living was in strong contrast to that of the papal 
champions. The landlord of The Pike, the inn where Q^colam- 
padius lodged, being curious to know what the latter did in his 
room, reported that every time he peeped in he found him 
reading or praying. It must be confessed (said he) that he is a 
very pious heretic. ' * 

In the church appeared Eck and Faber, with a train of prelates, 
magistrates and doctors, robed in bilk and damask, adorned with 
rings, chains and crosses : Eck ascended the pulpit, which was 
splendidly decorated, and represented the papacy. The wits 
heard his stentorian voice and said he would make an excellent 



A NEW CHAMPION. 209 

towii-crier ; they noted his broad shoulders, and hinted that he 
looked more hke a butcher than a theologian. He spoke with 
great violence, flinging out his galling sarcasms, and sometimes 
letting slip an oath. But the president never called him to 
order, Nicholas Manuel, the poet of Berne, said : 

^' Eck stamps with bis feet, and he thumps with his hands ; 

He blusters, he swears and he scolds : 
Whatever the pope and the cardinals teach 

Is the faith, he declares, that he holds." 

In contrast with all this bluster and parade, (Ecolampadius sat 
below the pulpit on a rough stool ; he was plainly clad, his voice 
was low and soft, his bearing noble and patriarchal, his spirit 
calm and firm, so that when he spoke his adversaries said one to 
another, ' ' If that tall, sallow man were on our side, it would be 
our gain." 

The subjects discussed for eighteen days were such as the 
mass, the real presence, images, saints, purgatory and the 
Church. Eck was forced to fall back on the fathers, the tradi- 
tions and customs of the Church, but his opponents said : '^ Cus- 
tom has no force in our Switzerland unless it be according to the 
constitution ; and in matters of faith the Bible is our constitu- 
tion." Zwingli was quite as much engaged in these discussions 
as if he had been at Baden. He was the great battery hidden 
in the distance. 

Thomas Plater was acting a good part in his own original way, 
along with two other students, who were taking notes of all that 
passed. Every evening one of them set out for Zurich with the 
feet of an Asahel, and by daybreak the next morning was back 
again with Zwingli' s answers and opinions. Armed sentinels 
were posted at all the gates of Baden, and these young couriers 

18* 



210 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

had to invent excuses to get through, for the guards wondered 
wh}^ they were so often passing to and fro. Once the ingenious 
Plater came with a basket on his head, the hens therein, doubt- 
less, well sliaken to make a noise. ''What are you going to 
do?" asked the sentineh 

"I am carrying chickens to sell to the gentlemen at the 
baths," was the reply. Some Zurichers had given him the 
game that he might enact his strategy, but as to the selling of 
them we are not further informed. One night he rapped at 
Zwingli's door, and found the wearied Reformer in bed. Plater 
relates: "He soon appeared, however, when he heard I was 
there, rubbed his eyes, and said : ' Ay ! ay ! you are a restless 
lad. Here I am, who have not been in bed these six weeks, 
thinking that as to-morrow is Pentecost I should get a snatch of 
rest. What are your tidings?' " 

" Doctor Eck has proposed that the five Forest Cantons (all 
papal) shall have power to i)ronounce the final judgment.'* This 
would be leaving the most unlearned, superstitious and stubborn 
of all the Swiss Romanists to judge the Reformed doctrines. 

'' Who can make those peasants understand these great mat- 
ters?" said Zwingli. He sat down, wrote out his opinion, and 
Thomas was on the way to Baden to employ his wit upon the 
sentinels before they had fairly coased yawning for da3'light and 
breakfast. Myconius said, " Zwingli has laboured more by his 
meditations, his sleepless nights and the advice he has sent to 
Baden, than he would liave done by discussing in the presence 
of his enemies." 

All this time the Romanists were sending letters far and wide, 
boasting of their victory. " Doctor Eck has laid low his oppo- 
nentfl," said they ; '' (Ecolampadius is vanquished — he has sung 
his recantation ; the dominion of the poj)C will be everywhere 



A NEW CHAMPION. 211 

restored." There were many in Switzerland ready to believe 
these false reports. Yet in Baden the people were not so credu- 
lous. They noticed that the Romish champions "talked the 
loudest, but argued the weakest. ' ' 

The monk, Thomas Murner of Lucerne, nicknamed "the tom- 
cat, ' ' stepped forward at the close of the debates and read forty 
abusive charges against Zwingli. "I thought," said he, "that 
the coward would come, but he has not showed his face ; I de- 
clare forty times, by all human and divine laws, that the tyrant 
of Zurich and all his followers are knaves, liars, perjurers, infi- 
dels, robbers, gallows-birds" — with perhaps full forty other epi- 
thets — "and that no honest man, without blushing, can keep 
company with them." Such was the abuse which passed among 
the papists as "Christian controversy." They knew that Mur- 
ner was a low, ribald monk, whose coarse abuse was an honour to 
every man whom he reviled. But they did not check the torrent 
of his revolting libels. It was known that Zwingli had published 
a "Zurich Almanac," in which the saints were not mentioned ; 
this monk had published an answer to it, in the shape of "The 
Black Calender, ' ' containing the worst specimens of low scandal, 
and heaping his venom upon the names of the Beformers. All 
this was a matter of joy to the papal party, who circulated the 
black almanac in the five Forest Cantons. 

Only (Ecolampadius and ten of his friends voted against Eck's 
theses ; the conference decreed that as Zwingli, the chief of this 
pestilent doctrine, had refused to appear, and as his defenders 
had resisted all conviction, they were to be cast out of the pale 
of the "Holy Catholic Church." War was preparing against 
stout old Zurich, with the lion on her shield. Would the bear 
of Berne stand up in her defence ? During some of these stormy 
times, certain wretches, set on by foreign intriguers, attacked the 



212 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

house of the Reformer, broke the windows and loudly called for 
**the red-haired Uli, the Vulture of Glaris." Zwingli roused 
up and ran for his sword. This act was characteristic of the 
man. He was yet to grasp the sword in defence of the cause of 
liberty, religion and God. 

We regret to find the once good friend, Glarean, who had 
studied with Zwingli, recommended him to his native Glaris, 
and written letters so warm in his praise, now turning coldly 
from the Reformer. Glarean had been led away by Erasmus, 
then by the Romanists. He was devoted to the ancient classics, 
and loved the new movement, so far as it revived their study. 
It was the Rennaissance, and not the Reformation, that won his 
heart. He became a bitter enemy of many of the Reformers, 
living to the age of seventy-four. He wrote several works, but 
even the Romanists condemned them. In the Index Expurga- 
torius, he is classed with ' ' the authors of cursed memory, whose 
works, published or yet to be published, are forbidden without 
exception." 

In contrast with this man, Vadian was a firm supporter of the 
Reformer. He and many friends at St. Gall engaged to stand 
by Zurich, even to the death. One day the dignified Vadian 
and about thirty sharp-shooters came to Zurich, whore a great 
ban(iuet was prepared for them by the guilds. Eight hundred 
persons marched through the town, drums beating and banners 
flying. Zwingli and his colleagues were among the guests. It 
was a genuine Swiss demonstration ; and the Reformers, warriors 
and statesmen mingled together and strengthened the ties of 
union in the State, whatever may have been the result in the 
Church. We may be sure the affair was conducted with dignity. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

ZWINGLI AT BERNE, 
(1536—1538.) 

THE two protestant chieftains went home from the famous 
Baden conference to rouse the enthusiasm of the people in 
the cause which they had defended. Berne and Basle were yet 
to be separated from Rome, and become greater centres in the 
Reformation.* (Ecolampadius did not return to Basle without 
fears and anxieties. The first blows were to fall upon him, but 
his mild words turned the wrath of man. Men had perceived 
more sound than sense in the clamours of Doctor Eck, and had 
been impressed with the weight of his opponent's gentle lan- 
guage. Calmness ever becomes a good cause. Pious men re- 
ceived the modest Reformer with admiration. In vain did his 
enemies make every effort to drive him from his pulpit. He 
grew bolder ; he preached with increasing energy, and the peo- 
ple had never shown such a thirst for the word. Here we leave 



* D'Aubigne divides the history of the Swiss Reformation into three 
periods, in each of which there is a different centre of influence. From 
1519 to 1526, the centre was Zurich, then entirely German; from 1526 to 
1532, it was Berne, both German and French ; in 1532, Geneva became the 
focus of light. In the first two periods, Zwingli is the eminent leader; in 
the third, Farel and Calvin are the most prominent. In the present vol- 
ume we arc treating of the Avork under Zwingli and his co-labourers. 

213 



214 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

him for a few months, giving welcome to French refugees, urging 
on the printers in scattering the truth, imparting wisdom to all 
who write for his advice, working with all his might, and waiting 
for happier times. It would be pleasant to dwell with him and 
share his peace, but we are called forth into the storms that beat 
in fury upon Berne. 

No sooner had Haller returned from Baden to his home than 
the smaller council ordered him to celebrate the mass. '*I ap- 
peal to the Great Council," said he, '' and there I will make my 
reply. ' * The people thought it their duty to defend their pastor, 
and hastened to the spot. Haller, in alarm, declared that he 
would rather leave the city than be the occasion of any disturb- 
ance. After quiet was restored, he said : *' If I am required to 
perform mass, I must resign my office. The honour of God and 
his word are dearer to me than any care about what I shall eat 
or wherewithal I shall be clothed." 

He spoke with deep emotion ; the members of the council 
were affected ; even some of his opposers burst into tears. Mod- 
eration was again stronger than rashness. Haller must be re- 
tained. But still some show of concession must be made to 
Home : therefore Haller was deprived of the office of canon. He 
was then appointed the chief preacher, which was all the better 
for the holy cause of truth. It separated him the more from 
the papacy, and gave him greater independence. In wrath over 
this last movement, certain of his most violent foes took their 
revenge by withdrawing from the council and the city and 
throwing up their citizenship. "If they can stand it," we hear 
Nicholas Watteville saying to the Mays, the Manuels and the 
Weingartens, "I think we can. Disgust is not dangerous when 
it sends one into the wide world to vent it on the winds." Hal- 
ler wrote: "Berne stumbled, but lias risen up again with greater 



ZWINGLI AT BERNE. 215 

strength than ever." All Switzerland was astonished at this 
turn of affairs. 

The news filled Zwingli with delight. Shortly after, he wrote 
to Haller: *' Everything here below has its course. After the 
raw north wind come milder airs ; after the scorching heat of 
summer, autumn pours forth its golden treasures. And now, 
after severe contests, our Creator has opened a way for us into 
the very camp of our enemies. Ought we then to lose courage ? 
Nay, God has opened to you, and to us all, in Berne, a door, at 
which we can take in the dove, for a time scared away, but ever 
longing to return. Be thou the Noah to receive and save 
her." 

Young Haller was not alone. The aged Francis Kolb had 
been driven away from Wertheimer, where he had been a faith- 
ful pastor. He had taken refuge in the Carthusian monastery at 
Nuremberg. Hearing that the '' dove of the gospel" was again 
received at Berne, he went thither to preach to his compatriots, 
asking no other stipend than the liberty of freely preaching 
Jesus Christ. Though bending under the weight of years, and 
crowned with locks of gray, he was young in heart, full of fire 
and of indomitable courage. 

Haller, thirty-five years of age, moved with a more measured 
step, spoke with gravity and was cautious of giving offence. The 
aged man seemed the younger of the two. Heart and hand they 
toiled on together. 

Never has there been a great revival in the Church without 
disturbances from radical men, who cannot wait for truth to con- 
quer. It was not long before certain enthusiasts went about say- 
ing, ''We cannot worship in churches where there are images of 
the saints." They drew much people after them. The council 
began to frown and threaten. Haller knew there was danger. 



216 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

but he said, *' It is our duty to drive out their errors, and not 
their persons. Let us emplo}^ no other weapons than the sword 
of the Spirit." They were persuaded to discuss with the Re- 
former ; six of them renounced their errors, two others were 
banished by the magistrates. 

It was not long before every parish became a field of strife. 
The peasants disputed with the priests about the Scriptures, 
and usually had the best of the argument. ''If our lords of 
Berne," said the poor people, "grant to the pastors the liberty 
of preaching, why not grant to the flocks the liberty of acting." 
They wished to banish the mass, the images and all the relics of 
popery, and keep their good pastors and their Bibles. The Ko- 
manists grew violent. One of them tried abuse and threats, but 
the peasants were too strong for him, and made him take back 
his words, with a smooth, round apology to them. Another bai- 
liff was more cunning. When the pastor at Ruderswcil was 
preaching with earnestness one day, he led on a band of fifcrs 
and trumpeters, interrupted the sermon, and invited the village 
girls to quit the church for a dance. But these wiles did not 
hinder the reform. Shoemakers, masons, carpenters, bakers, 
weavers, tanners and tailors rose up and cleared many churches 
and convents of all the signs of popery. The excitement became 
intense ; a conference was called. The Swiss bishops were in- 
vited, but as it was to be a debate according to the Scriptures, 
they had nothing to do with it. Romish doctors, too, were re- 
quested to be present. 

''We have received the letter of this leper, this accursed 
heretic, Zwingli," said such doctors as Eck and Murner. 
" They want to take the Bible for their judge. . . . We will not 
go to Berne , we will not crawl into that obscure corner of the 
world; we will not combat in that gloomy cavern, tliat school at' 



ZWINGLI AT BERNE. 217 

heretics. Let these villains come out into the open air, and con- 
tend with us on level ground. ' ' The onl}^ ground level enough 
for them was some little popish town where they could make a 
parade and bluster, to the amazement of its rustic inhabitants. 
So the conference was to be held without the great bishops and 
doctors. 

Haller felt timid as he stood alone to defend the truth. He 
wrote to Zwingli : " We are between the hammer and the anvil. 
We hold the wolf by the ears, and know not how to let him go. 
Come and help us. The houses of Watteville, Tremp and Ber- 
thold are open to you. Come and command the battle in per- 
son." Zwingli went.^ OEcolampadius wrote that he was 
coming, and said, *' I am ready, if necessary, to sacrifice my life.'* 
Others said the same thing. Haller took courage. The discus- 
sions were similar to those which we have already noticed. One 
most remarkable conversion startled the people. 

Zwingli went into the pulpit on Sunday, and when reciting the 
apostle's creed, he paused after the words, "He ascended into 
heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Al- 
mighty. ' ' The Reformer then said, ' ' This is in contradiction to 
the mass. ' ' Suddenly a priest, robed for the service and just 
about to offer the mass in one of the chapels, stopped in aston- 
ishment and listened to Zwingli, whose words electrified the 



* It seems strange to us that Zwingli had to get permission from the 
senate of the canton to go to Berne for a religious synod. But in such 
cases the council had power over him. Safe-conducts were formally made 
out, and the learned men Conrad Pellican, Megander and Rudolph Collin 
were ordered to attend him, all at the expense of the government. The 
Romish Church had long claimed power over the State ; the danger now 
was that the State would claim too much authority over the Reformed 
Church. 
19 



218 UL.RICH ZWINGLI. 

people. The priest went up to the ahar, stripped off his mass- 
robes, threw them down, exclaiming, '' Unless the mass rests on 
a more solid foundation, I can celebrate it no longer/' The as- 
sembly was thrilled. Such a conversion, at the very foot of the 
altar, was soon told abroad, and had a most powerfiil effect upon 
the citizens. The mass must fall. In it lay the strength of 
Rome, and with it Rome must fall. 

Two evenings afterward the bells were ringing in every steeple, 
for it was the eve of the festival in honour of St. Vincent, 
the patron saint of the city. People talked that night as they 
pleased about such feasts. On the morrow the doors were open, 
the tapers burning, the church filled with incense. But no one 
appeared ; no priest to say mass, no devout persons to hear it ! 
St. Vincent must fall. In the evening it was the custom for the 
canons to chant vespers with great pomp. The organist was 
at his post, but not one canon showed himself. The vespers 
must fall. The poor organist, who earned his bread by playing, 
turned sadly away, fearing that his craft would soon be gone. 
Immediately after he left the church, some rash men fell upon 
the organ, which they associated with nothing but superstitious 
rites, and broke it to pieces. Thus it went on St. Vincent's day. 
No more mass, no more organ, no more anthems ! 

The butchers''^ company had a chapel of their own, which they 
proposed to decorate the following day. They would show their 
strength for Rome. They marched, carrjnng green branches 
of trees, with a foreign priest in the train and a few poor 
scholars. The priest performed his services, the boys sang in 
place of the silent organ, and the butchers felt proud of their 
victory. But it was soon announced that the conference had 

* Every trade had its guild or company. Those of the bakers, carptn- 
ters, masons, Ac, had dechired for the reform. 



ZWINGLI AT BERNE. 219 

convinced two or three of the papal clergy of the truth, and they 
had joined the Reformers. The two city councils had decreed 
that the mass should be abolished, and that every one might re- 
move from the churches the ornaments he had placed there. 
Very soon twenty-five altars were overthrown ; many images de- 
stroyed, but without disorder or bloodshed. The children went 
through the streets singing the downfall of the popish idols. 
Such bold work had not yet been done in Switzerland. Perhaps 
one reason was, William Farel was there. 

'* Should any one take away the altar of the butchers' com- 
pany," cried out a fat papist, " I will take away his life." This 
provoked cutting replies from the scoffers: *'Let the cathedral 
be stripped of its ornaments, and it will make a good stable. 
When the Oberlanders come to market, they will be happy to 
put up their cattle in it. " " Oh what times 1 what manners ! 
what misfortunes!" said the R-omanists in despondency. ** All 
this might have been prevented if our bishops had only given 
more time to learning and less to lewd company !" 

Once more was the voice of Zwingli to be heard before he re- 
turned home. He went into the cathedral the day after the 
image-breaking, saw the fragments piled here and there in the 
aisles and porches, crossed over the ^'eloquent ruins," entered 
the pulpit, and with great emotion said : ' ' Victory has declared 
for the truth, but perseverance alone can complete the triumph. 
Christ persevered even until death. . . . Cornelius Scipio, after 
the disaster at Cannse, having learned that the surviving gen- 
erals thought of abandoning Italy, entered the senate-house, 
although not yet of senatorial age, and, drawing his sword, con- 
strained the affrighted chieftains to swear that they would not 
leave Rome to the enem}'. Citizens of Berne, to you I address 
a similar demand ; do not abandon Jesus Christ" 



220 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

Tlie effect was tremendous. Then turning to the fragments 
that lay near him, he continued, ''Behold these idols! con- 
quered, mute and shattered, they lie before us. These corpses 
must be dragged to the shambles, and the gold that you have 
spent upon such foolish images must henceforth be devoted to 
comforting the living images of God. Feeble souls, ye shed your 
tears over these sad idols ; do you not see how they break like 
any other wood or stone ? Look at that one, its head gone ! 
And that one, its arms broken ! If this ill-usage had been 
done to the saints in heaven, and if they had the power ascribed 
to them, would they not have been able to save themselves from 
being broken and maimed? Now, then, stand fast in the liberty 
wherewith Christ has made you free, and be not entangled again 
with the yoke of bondage ? Fear not. That God who has en- 
lightened you will also enlighten your confederates, and Switzer- 
land, regenerated by the Holy Ghost, shall flourish in righteous- 
ness and peace.*' 

The Romanists, sore with defeat, attempted to vex Zwingli 
and his friends on their return home by closing the gates of 
Bremgarten. But "my lords of Berne" had provided for 
Zwingli's safety. They sent two hundred armed men with him, 
who proceeded in brave style, lance in rest. The wiser ones of 
Bremgarten came to a parley ; the gates were opened, and the 
escort passed through the town, attracting the people into the 
streets to learn that the Reformers were becoming a power in tlie 
world. Zwingli, without accident, re-entered Zurich, says Lu- 
ther, *' like a conqueror." 

In this triumphant company was probably Doctor Vadian, 
who had presided at the conference. He went home to St. Gall 
and told the council how they did things at Berne. "A good ex- 
ample !" said they; " and shall we be far behind them?" They 



ZWINGLI AT BERNE. 221 

removed the images from the church of St Magnus, their pa- 
tron saint ; thej^ carried a silver hand of his to the mint along 
with other ornaments, and receiving the coin, they gave it to the 
poor. The people were curious to know what those '* ancient 
mysteries' ' were, so long veiled from their eyes and called ' ' holy 
relics, ' ' They went to the abbey, laid hands on the shrines* and 
the crosses which they had worshipped from childhood, opened 
thus the chests of treasures, and lo ! what? Nothing but some 
resin, a few coins, old rags, paltiy wooden images, a skull, a 
tooth and a snail's shell! These were the relics they had been 
adoring as "hidden mysteries," Rome fell in their respect as 
suddenly as a meteor. A laugh of irony was raised throughout 
the canton. Thus in the extreme northeast of reforming Swit- 
zerland the work of image-breaking was progressing ; we shall 
see how it went on in the extreme northwest on the return of 
(Ecolampadius to Basle, 

In Berne, the citizens, young and old, nobles and peasants, 
met in the great cathedral as one great family, and raising their 
hands to heaven, swore to defend the councils in all that they 
should undertake for the good of the State and the Church. 
The councils published an edict of reform, and ' ' threw for ever 
from the necks of the Bernese the yoke of the four (Swiss) 
bishops," who, they said, "know well how to shear the sheep, 
but not how to feed them." 

JMore touching was a later assembly, when the grave coun- 
cillors, the citizens and their wives, the peasants and their chil- 
dren, met in the great cathedral, to receive the Lord's Supper 



* " Everybody fell upon the idols. We tore them from the altar, the 
walls and the pillars. They were beaten down and smashed by hammers : 
you would have thought it a field of battle. What a noise ! what a break- 
ing ! what an echoing in the lofty ceiling !" — Kessler, quoted by Hottinger, 
19* 



222 UT.RICH ZWINGLI. 

for the first time in the scriptural manner. In their very dress 
they were returning to the ancient Swiss simpHcity ; in their 
solemnity they were restoring the ancient spirit of the disciples. 
They received from the hand of their pastor the simple bread 
and wine as the memorials of the Saviour's death for them. 
Each felt that the Lord was with them, and all rejoiced in the 
fulness of the light that had dawned upon their city. 

In the ruder districts of this canton there were many who re- 
sisted the gospel for a long time and raised commotions on a 
small scale. The Romish cantons did all they could to provoke 
revolt and violence. Haller was again alarmed. The poet Man- 
uel wrote a lament, which became very popular as a hymn and 
prayer in which he says : 

With rage our foes their hateful threats denounce. 
Because, Lord, we love thee best of all ; 
\ Because at sight of thee the idols fall, 

And war and bloodshed, shuddering, we renounce. 

Gaspard do Flue, an unworthy grandson of the great Nich- 
olas,"^ bore an ancient banner, which was followed by eight hun- 
dred men of Unterwalden, one of the most stubborn of the 
Romish cantons. They bore haughty heads, having in their 
hats pine-branches, the symbol of the old faith. They were 
resolved to interfere in matters of faith, in 8])ite of the federal 
union. Marching westward into the canton of Berne, they in 
creased their army, and proposed to move upon the city of 
Berne, and there restore the pope, the saints, the mass and all 
the machinery of i)opery. This was an attempt to make a 
pea^sants' war in Switzerland. 

Tlie Bernese roused, for the '*Bear" was not oppressed with 



* Sec ChR])ter ii. 



ZWINGLI AT BEKNE. 223 

sleep wlien the hunter drew nigh. "Let us perish," said some 
of the noble councillors, "rather than permit the interference of 
Unterwalden, and be exposed to the fiery violence of the peas- 
ants. Let our strength be in Grod and in loyalty. ' ' All the 
council responded with cheers. The great banner was unfurled, 
the town's-people grasped their arms, and the troops of the re- 
public marched out under the valiant bailifi". 

The Romanists were in haste to give advice to the warlike 
peasants when they saw Berne rising in her might. "You 
people of Unterwalden are all in the wrong, ' ' said they ; ' ' you 
must not fight your neighbours on account of their faith, nor 
trample on the ancient alliances. You must go home and 
behave so well that we will hear no more of this. ' ' Good ad- 
vice, but why was it not given sooner ? If the peasants could 
have been successful in restoring popery, it would have all 
been right; but the fearful power of Berne made a vast dif- 
ference. "You will be beaten most woefully ; therefore it is 
wrong. ' ' This was the logic. The rebels retired to the con- 
vent of Interlaken. Hearing that the Bernese were pushing on, 
and having their ardour chilled by the cold rains, and fearing 
that the snows would so cover the mountains as to prevent them 
from returning home, the men of Unterwalden left Literlaken 
during the night. Immediately the Bernese entered it, made 
their power known in that region, compelled the rebels to fall 
on their knees, confess their crimes and beg for pardon, and 
put to death four of the chiefs. The rebellion was over ; the 
republic was satisfied. This was the first war in Switzerland 
between the Romanists and Protestants. No blood was shed on 
the field, but the spirit of the two parties was disclosed. The 
papists saw that they could not use force without meeting force. 
Whether the Protestants were right or not, depends on whether 



224 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

a Christian state is justified in repelling invaders with the sword. 
The Romanists of Unterwalden were the offenders ; the Bernese 
acted in self-defence. The young republic was all the stronger 
for the Reformed element it contained, and it was often said, 
both by friends and foes, '' God is become a citizen of Berne.'* 




(E 



CHAPTEE XIX. 

THE JIPItlSING IN BASLE, 

(X53S-1539.) 

ICOLAMPADIUS had often been thankful that he was 
not a monk, for he could now take care of his aged mo- 
ther. Rome had broken the Christian ties of family and home ; 
Protestantism restored them. The Reformer of Basle returned 
from the conference at Berne just in time to minister to his mo- 
ther in her illness, close her eyes and lay her body in the tomb. 
This was not the only death that affected him. 

For a long time the aged and pious bishop had tottered daily 
into the cathedral, supported by two servants, and with broken 
voice had celebrated the mass. He had been friendly to the Re- 
formation, wishing, however, that it might not go so far as to 
become independent of Rome. Through him, Erasmus had come 
to Ba.sle, and (Ecolampadius at the time of his first preaching 
there. At his death there was a change. His successor, Gun- 
delsheim, an enemy of reform, with a train of forty horses and 
minions, made his triumphal entry, proposing to overthrow the 
new order of things and restore the old. "Quite as well," 
thought Erasmus, who was now writing against Luther and 
holding Zwingli in contempt. But (Ecolampadius wrote to the 
Zurich Reformer, " Our cause hangs on a thread." 

The new and pompous bishop had not inspired such great ad- 
miration or terror among the citizens as he imagined. Deference 

225 



226 ULRfCH ZWINGLI. 

to rank and pretension had wonderfully fallen ; respect for the 
people was greatly on the rise. It was the Reformation that re- 
stored the power of an enlightened people. The bishop feasted 
tlie aristocracy, courted the Romish nobles, and dreamed, as the 
wine touched his brain, that he would soon have the councils 
under his finger. The citizens had their feasts also; among their 
guests sat (Ecolampadius and his colleagues; the gospel was 
talked of at the tables, and cheers were given with a zest at the 
mention of the good work in Zurich and Berne. In a short time 
the council began to lift a finger over the bishop and favour the 
reform. "Too many saints' days and festivals," said they, strik- 
ing twenty of them out of their calender. It was on such days 
that Rome had enforced her superstitions. For a holiday the ig- 
norant will believe almost anything. The better priests wished 
to cease from the mass : they were allowed the privilege. " It is 
all over with Rome," was now the cry of the people. The Re- 
former shook his head : he knew that the council was really 
trying to please both parties. " I am afraid," said he, "that 
by wishing to sit on two stools at once, Basle will fall to the 
ground. ' ' 

But the news from Berne roused the people. The report of 
80 much image-breaking, without one drop of blood, and with 
only a few angr}^ parades by the butchers* company, created a 
sensation. " Berne, the powerful old Berne, is reforming," said 
the people. "The fierce bear has come out of his den, where 
he has been asleep for so long. He is groping about for the 
warm rays of the sun. But our Basle, the city of learning, re- 
mains in darkness. It is time we were waking up !" 

Five workmen of the spinners' company laid their plans for 
Good Friday, 1528. They kept them from the Reformer and the 
councils. The mass liad been abolished in the church of 



THE UPRISING IN BASLE. 227 

St. Martin, where (Ecolampadius preached, but the images re- 
mained. These five men entered it and carried away all the 
•'idols," no miracle preventing them. In a few days, thirty-four 
citizens thus cleared out the church of the Augustines. The 
council met and threw the five men into prison. The people 
rose and asked for them to be set at liberty. The spinners were 
released. In five other churches the images were suppressed. 
These half-way measures were not enough. The radicals wished 
to see a more violent movement ; the Reformers desired to see a 
more thorough work of truth and of grace. 

Eyes were turned to the great cathedral, which had stood for 
centuries, the chants of the mass resounding through the Gothic 
arches, and the statues of the saints exacting the reverence that 
was due to the Holy Trinity. Its lofty spire must become a 
monument to a revived Christianity. Within it the noisy priests 
called the Reformers, ' ' heretics, knaves and profligates. ' ' In 
the churches sermons were preached against the abominations of 
the cathedral. One party reviled ; the other used arguments. 
Everything tended to a fearful collision. But notice the differ- 
ence between them in their measures. The Reformed party took 
the pen ; the papists took the sword. 

Two days before Christmas, three hundred citizens from all 
the companies assembled and drew up a petition to the senate 
or great council. They marched into the street quietly to pre- 
sent it. Just then a band of Romanists ftdly armed met them, 
flourished their swords and lances and endeavoured to bar the 
road. The burgomaster Mettinger, the leader of the papists in 
the senate, appeared. He haughtily refused the petition of the 
quiet citizens ; he turned to the armed mob and begged them to • 
disband. They returned to their homes, as did also the peti- 
tioners. Burgomaster Meyer, a strong friend of the reform, 



228 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

took the paper into the senate. It was ordered to be read. The 
purport of it was : ' ' We address you as our well-beloved fathers, 
whom we are ready to obey at the cost of our goods and our 
lives. Take God's glory to heart ; restore peace to the city, and 
oblige the pope's preachers to discuss freely with our ministers. 
If the mass be right, we want it in our churches; if it be an 
abomination in the sight-of God, why should we retain it through 
love for the priests, and draw down his terrible anger upon our- 
selves and our children ?' ' Thus calmly, firmly, orderly and with 
peaceable steps did the Reformed party make their first attempt. 
In all they did there was nothing violent or revolutionary. But 
their opponents were not satisfied ; they were the first to depart 
from the legal course. They prepared for ruder measures, and 
the Reformed were incited to self-defence. 

All sorts of rumours were set afloat by the papists ; now the 
Zurichers were coming to sweep them away ; again the bears of 
Berne were hurrying to devour them, or an Austrian army was 
on the march to defend them. They did this to have an excuse 
to collect weapons, fill their houses with stones, and raise the 
mob. Christmas came ; the Romanists met each other armed ; 
the priests were ready to shed blood, and make Christmas night 
one of terror and death. Tlio Reformed citizens were too human 
not to be prompted in a wrong direction. They saw what a 
night was coming. They feared that the pojiish vespers were to 
be followed by the dying groans of God's people. The more vio- 
lent among them ran from house to house, awoke their friends 
and told them where to assemble. Starting from their beds, 
some of them resorted to prayer as their best defence ; others 
seized their weapons and hastened to the Gardener's Hall. They 
soon amounted to three thousand. 

Both parties passed the night under arms. Not only a civil 



THE UPRISING IN BASLE. 229 

war, but what is worse, ' ' a war of hearths' ' might break out. 
At length it was agreed that each party should send delegates to 
the senate, that their rulers might decide upon their strifes. The 
senate was sitting for long days. The Romish cantons sent their 
deputies, who were allowed to enter the guarded gates, but it 
seems that none were admitted from the Reformed cantons. 
" We must satisfy both parties," said the majority of the sena- 
tors. Hence half measures were adopted. To the one they said, 
' ' You priests must preach the Word, but yet you can celebrate 
your mass." To the other they said : ''You preachers may pro- 
claim the word of God, and meet once every week to consult 
upon the Holy Scriptures. ' ' They also required the Reformed to 
meet in the church of the Franciscans, and the papists in that 
of the Dominicans, where the decrees would be read. 

In the Franciscan church were soon gathered two thousand 
five hundred people. The senators entered. The secretary read 
the decree. ' ' That shall not be, ' ' cried a citizen. A great 
excitement prevailed. Voices cried loudly, "We will not put 
up with another mass. No mass ! we will die sooner. ' ' 

The senate next went to the Dominican church, where all the 
forces of Rome were mustered. They had dragged in every 
popish foreigner, beggar, menial and minion, yet could number 
only about six hundred persons, who heard the decrees, and 
shouted, "We are ready to lose our lives for the mass. We 
swear it." Their hands were raised as they repeated, "We 
swear it ! If they reject the mass, to arms I to arms ! ' ' The 
senators were in the darkest perplexity. 

Three days after, the two parties met in the church. GEco- 
lampadius was in the pulpit. "Be meek," said he, "be teach- 
able and obedient to the laws." As he preached the tears ran 

down the cheeks of the people. The assembly offered up 
20 



230 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

prayers to God. Then they resolved to ask for a public discus- 
sion, such as had been held at Zurich and Berne, and abide by 
the decision. But it was soon found that the Romanists would 
not submit to this arrangement. Affairs grew more desperate. 
Again was relief sought from the senate, which met at night, 
moved slowly, but promised their decision on the morrow. It 
was the eighth of February. 

The night was one of terror. Basle was in arms, her own cit- 
izens holding each other in seige. Chains were drawn across the 
streets, torches were lighted, old trees were covered with pitch 
and set on fire, six pieces of cannon were planted before the towp 
hall, and all public places were filled with armed men. An angry 
word, the careless snap of a pistol, a cry of fear, a mere accident, 
might have brought on a battle, in which all would have blindly 
and madly rushed to destroy each other. All at once whispers 
were passed among the papal leaders. ** There is no hope for 
us,'' said they. "We are in the minority." Burgomaster Met- 
tinger, a heroic soldier who had fought at Marignan, lost all 
courage. In the darkness he fled to the Rhine with his son-in- 
law, took a small boat, and, unnoticed amid the fogs, rapidly de- 
scended the river. Other members of the council escaped to 
tell their alarms and their despair in quarters where they were 
sure of sympathy. 

The Reformed citizens learned of this movement, and grew 
suspicious. "Beware of their secret manoeuvres," they said. 
"l\Tlia])s they arc gone to bring in the Austrians, of whom thoy 
have boasted." This new fright brought more arms, and the 
sun rose upon a calm but firm army of citizens. No Austrians 
came. No decision was sent to thorn from the senate. Noon 
approached. The impatient people could not be restrained. 
They sent forty men to visit the different posts in the city. As 



THE UPRISING IN BASLE. 231 

these men were passing the cathedral, they turned into its doors. 
They looked about upon the symbols of popery. One of them 
had the curiosity to open a closet with his halberd. Out fell an 
image and broke into fragments on the stone pavement of the 
aisle. No miracle of judgment followed it. The spectators be- 
gan to throw down other statues, until not an image was left un- 
broken. Erasmus had said with keen irony, "I am much sur- 
prised that these idols do not perform a miracle to save them- 
selves ; formerly the saints worked frequent prodigies for much 
smaller offences." Some priests ran to the cathedral, and the 
forty men retired. 

But as the rumour spread, three hundred others came. They 
could not enter the cathedral. The priests had closed the gates, 
drawn the bolts, raised barricades and prepared to maintain a 
siege. The town's-people broke down one of the doors and 
rushed in. The hour of madness had come. They fell upon 
pictures, altars, confession-boxes and destroyed them all. The , 
priests, who had fled into the vestry, were frightened beyond ex- 
pression, and yet no attempt was made to discover or injure 
them. The fragments of the papal furniture were piled up in 
the squares and burned, doing some good in warming the crowd 
that gathered round the winter fires. 

No report yet from the senators ; in fact, they had never felt so 
far behind the times. The policies of one hour would not suit 
the next. But when they heard of the fires in front of the ca- 
thedral they rushed to the spot. They put forward their au- 
thority in quelling the tumult. It was throwing chaff against 
the wind. The people were already casting the idols out of all 
churches. They were preparing to cross the great bridge over 
the Rhine, enter Little Basle, and make a clean sweep of Ro- 
manism, to which its inhabitants were particularly devoted. In 



232 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

fear the townsmen carried the images into their garrets to pre- 
serve them for a future da5^ The citizens of Basle looked the 
aifrighted senators calmly in the face, and said, "What you have 
not been able to effect in three years we will complete in one 
hour." 

No private property was injured ; no priest or monk was 
threatened ; no man, woman, or child was intentionally harmed. 
There was but one design, and that was to wipe out the insignia 
of popery. The senators now took a strange and sudden turn. 
They sought to legalize the popular movement, thus changing a 
revolution into a Kefonnation. They learned to think promptly 
and act with decision. After an houi-'s deliberation, they granted 
the citizens the privilege of electing the two councils ; they abol- 
ished the mass and images from the whole canton, and gave a 
liberty to the people which they had not dared to expect. The 
citizens, almost worn out with excitement, returned joyfully 
.to their homes to celebrate their new freedom. They had 
asked it first by a petition ; they had gained it by a bloodless 
battle. 

What was left of the ruins of altars and papal machinery was 
intended to be distributed among the poor for firewood on Ash 
Wednesday. But these unhappy peasants, eager for the frag- 
ments, began to quarrel about them, and fresh piles were made 
in the streets and the match applied. As the flames arose some 
jester said, "These idols are really keeping their Ash Wednes- 
day to-day." (Ecolampadius says that the friends of popeiy 
"turned their horror-stricken eyes from the sacrilegious sight and 
shed tears of blood. Thus severely did they treat the idols, and 
the mass died of grief in consequence." A general amnesty was 
published, hymns were sung in the churches, and devout thanks 
rendered to God. Everything in Basle was changed. (Ecolam- 



THE UPRISING IN BASLE. 233 

padius had entered tiie city, a few years before, as a stranger, 
without resources or power, but now he stood forth as the Re- 
' former whose gentle influence had secured the establishment of 
the truth. Even in the hours of madness, when men were doing 
what he disapproved, his spirit was manifest in the restraining 
of the people from robbery, revenge and personal injury. We 
do not justify all that was done by the citizens, nor do we draw 
the lines and set apart what we condemn. When Rome shows 
us an instance of a revolution in which she gained so bloodless 
a triumph amid intense excitement, then it will be time for us to 
point out the acts which we denounce in the great uprising at 
Basle. 

Scarcely a monk, compelled to leave his nest in the convent 
and flee to more papal regions, could have felt more chagrin 
than did the old sage of Rotterdam at the result of all this com- 
motion. His literary court would be broken up. Trimmers were 
no longer needed in Basle. No longer would he reign as the 
prince of the schools. For a long time previously he had turned 
his head aside when he met (Ecolampadius. And now he must 
either compromise with his protectors or take his leave. He 
made up his mind, and thus wrote: "The torrent which was 
hidden underground has burst forth with violence and committed 
frightful ravages. My life is in danger. (Ecolampadius pos- 
sesses all the churches. People are continually bawling in my 
ears. I am besieged with letters, caricatures and pamphlets. It 
is all over ; I am resolved to leave Basle. Only, shall I or shall 
I not depart by stealth ? The one is more becoming, the other 
more secure." 

Honour and fear cannot always be made to harmonize. 'Great 
men when afirighted can become ridiculous. Erasmus yfks not 

in such danger as he imagined, nor indeed was he so important 

20 * 



234 UTiRICH ZWINGLT. 

in the eyes of the people. But he asked that the boatman who 
was to carry him down the Rhine might take him in at some un- 
frequented spot. The senate op])Osed it, and the timid philoso- 
pher was obliged to enter the boat as it lay near the bridge, on 
which was collected a crowd to see him off. He retreated to 
Friburg in Brisgau, where the Romanists seemed likely to hold 
sway to the end of time. 

Oswald Myconius was yet to be called to Basle, along with 
other scholars, to fill the vacant chairs in the university. Edu- 
cation in that centre of influence was henceforth to be more 
thoroughly Christian. A confession of faith was published. 
Popery had fallen in spite of the secular and papal power. 
*'The wedge of the Lord," says the Reformer, "has split the 
hard knot." 

After the death of his mother, Gi]colampadius was alone, under 
the weight of domestic and public cares ; his house was like an 
inn for all fugitive Christians. His tender thoughts had already 
taken a happy direction. " I shall marry a Monica,'^ or else re- 
main a bachelor," he had said. The daughter of a brave knight, 
the widow of a young scholar named Keller, seemed to meet his 
idea, and he married her, saying, "I look to the ordinances of 
God, and not to the scowling faces of men." Every such viola- 
tion of priestly celibacy was a blow to Romanism. 



The name of Augustine's mother. 




CHAPTER XX. 

ZWINGI^I FACES JLUTJELJElIt,* 

(1539*) 

APOOE, monk was lying in a gloomy dungeon at Marburg 
at the very time when Luther was in Wittemberg preach- 
ing the free pardon of sins through Jesus Christ. Men and 
women were seen cautiously gathering about a solitary loophole 
of the prison and eagerly listening to the voice of the monk, 
James Limburg, who was declaring that the priests had falsified 
the gospel for many centuries. J!pr having more openly preached 
the truth he had been cast into the dungeon. These mysterious 
assemblies lasted a fortnight. On a sudden the voice ceased ; the 
people came in vain. The monk was torn from his cell and hur- 
ried away. While on the road some weeping citizens of Mar- 
burg overtook him, and hastily pulling aside the awning that 
covered the car in which he was borne, they asked him, 
" Whither are you going?" He calmly replied, " Where God 
wills." He was heard of no more by his friends; it is not 
known what became of him. Unto this day such sudden disap- 
pearances have not been rare in the papacy. But he had done 
something to prepare the way for the gospel in Marburg, a town 
in Lower Hesse. 



*" To avoid confusix)ii in subjects, we anticiprite certain events recorded 
in the next chapter. The Marburg conference was held after the first 
treaty of Cappel. 

235 



236 uluicii zwixgli. 

About seven years later, when Philip Melanchthon was return- 
ing from a visit to his mother, along with some other friends, he 
met a brilliant train near Frankfort. The chief personage was 
the Prince Philip of Hesse, who had left his castle at Marburg, 
and started for the tournament at Heidelburg, where he would 
meet all the princes of Germany. One of his attendants said to 
him after the other company had passed them, "It is Phihp 
Melanchthon, I think." The young prince put the spurs to his 
horse, rode back, and coming near the doctor, asked, *'Is your 
name Philip?" 

' ' It is, ' ' replied the scholar, somewhat in wonder, and pre- 
pared to alight. "Keep your seat," said the prince; "turn 
round and spend the night with me ; there are some matters on 
which I wish to have a little talk with you ; fear nothing." 

*' What can I fear from such a prince as you?" answered Me- 
lanchthon, who perhaps now remembered that Philip had visited 
Luther, three years before, at the Diet of Worms. 

"Ah! if I were to carry you oif and give you up to Cam- 
peggio [the papal legate], he would not be offended, I think." 
The two Philips rode on together talking. At length Melanch- 
thon begged permission to continue his journey. Philip, land- 
grave of Hesse, parted from him saying, "On ane condition, 
that when you reach home you will carefully examine the ques- 
tions we have been discussing, and send me your opinions in 
writing." To this the learned doctor assented. 

Thus was the way opened for the return of the gospel to Mar- 
burg. Philip the landgrave soon received from Melanchthon an 
"Abridgment of the Ilevived Doctrine of Christianity." The 
prince accepted the truth with all his earnestness of character, 
and, in spite of the league against it, he ordered the gospel to be 
preached purely and freely. " Rather would I give up my body 



ZWINGLI FACES LUTHER. 237 

and my life, my subjects and my states, ' ' said he, ' ' than the 
word of God.'^ 

The Swiss Reformers pleased the young prince, for he thought 
that they took bolder ground than the Lutherans, spoke more 
plainly against Eome, and had more fully separated the truth 
from error. He heard of the French monk, Francis Lambert, 
whom we saw riding away from Zurich on his little donkey. The 
monk was poor, but happy. "Formerly," said he, "when I 
was a hypocrite, I lived in abundance ; now I consume sparingly 
my daily bread with my small family ; but I would rather be 
poor in Christ's kingdom than possess abundance of gold in the 
dissolute dwellings of the pope. ' ' Philip saw that Lambert was 
just the man he wanted, and he invited him to Marburg. 

Theses were the style of the times ; Lambert had his. He 
posted up one hundred atid fifty-eight propositions on the church 
door. Friends and foes crowded to read them. Some would 
have torn them down, but for the town's-people, who gathered 
on the public square and began to discuss them. There came to 
the spot a young priest, Boniface Dornemann, whom the bishop 
had extolled as above Paul in learning and as pure as the Holy 
Virgin, and whose self-conceit had lost nothing by the flattery. 
Finding that he was too short to read the theses of the tall Lam- 
bert, he borrowed a stool, mounted it, and commenced reading 
them to a numerous audience. 

"All that is deformed ought to be reformed," ran the first 
thesis. "The word of Grod alone teaches us what ought to be 
so, and all reform that is otherwise effected is vain." " Hem," 
said the young priest* "I shall not attack that." He continued : 

' ' It belongs to the Church to judge on matters of faith. Now 
the Church is the congregation of those who are united by the 
same spirit, the same faith, the same God, the same Mediator, 



238 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

the same Word, by which alone they are governed, and in which 
alone they have life." The j^oung priest said, *'I cannot attack 
that proposition." 

"Since the priesthood of the law has been abolished, Christ 
is the only immortal and eternal priest, and he does not, as men 
do, need a successor. Neither the bishop of Rome, nor any 
other person in the world, is his representative here below. ..." 

This thesis savoured of heresy. But Dornemann said, "Cer- 
tainly I shall not attack that one. ' ' The people listened with 
astonishment. One of them, a wag or a fanatic, tired with these 
remarks, said, rudely, " Get down, you knave, who cannot find a 
word to impugn." Then pulling away the stool, the conceited 
priest fell flat into the mud. None were found willing to come 
forward and contest the propositions. In a large assembly Prince 
Philip sought to call out the superior of a convent at Marburg, 
but it was in vain. The friars were all dumb. Then Lambert 
clasped his hands, exclaiming, "Blessed be the Lord God of 
Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his people." The Re- 
form spread rapidly in Hesse, a synod was organized and a con- 
stitution adopted, some of whose articles were, "Let no one 
believe that by a bishop we understand anything else than a sim- 
ple minister of the word of God. Each church should elect its 
own pastor." 

The ardent Philip was pained at the manner in which Luther 
treated Zwingli in regard to the Lord's Sujipor. At the Diet of 
Spires, whore the name Pi-oh^sfant was first api^lied to the Re- 
formers, he had been pained to hear the papists cry out, " You 
are more disunited than ourselves;" whi^h, however, was not 
the fact. John Hanner of Frankfort went to the prince and en- 
treated him to allay the strife. He said, "I was tlie first who 
took the trouble of persuading the landgrave Von Ilcsse to at- 



ZWINGLI FACES LUTHER. 239 



• 



tempt a reconciliation between the contending parties, and this 
took place even as early as the first Diet of Spires. '^ Philip 
took the matter in hand with usual energy as soon as he re- 
turned home. He now invited the two chieftains to meet him 
in his castle, at Marburg. Luther at first declined the invitation. 

Zwingli was ready to go to the end of the earth if he might 
win his brethren or be convinced of any error. But the council 
of Zurich positively refused to let him go. He decided for him- 
self Resolving to depart, he raised his eyes to heaven, saying, 
"0 God, thou hast never abandoned us. Thou wilt perform 
thy will for thine own glory." During the night of August 31, 
1529, he prepared for the journey to Marburg, without waiting 
for Philip's safe-conduct, or receiving one from the Zurich coun- 
cil. In this he showed his courage, for he well knew that his 
way lay through perils and enemies. The prince had not con- 
cealed the dangers. He had promised an escort from Strasburg 
to Hesse, and for the rest * ' the protection of God. ' ' Zwingli 
wrote a note to the councils, saying that they must not suppose 
that he despised their authority, for he knew their love for him 
opposed his going. Just then a fourth message arrived from 
Philip, urging him still more earnestly to come. He sent it to 
the burgomaster as his further apology, and left his house pri- 
vately by night, lest his friends should beset him with their en- 
treaties and his foes should lay snares to entrap him in their 
wiles. He did not even tell his wife Anna, lest she should be in 
distress. Rudolph Collin, the professor of Greek, was to attend 
him. They mounted their horses and rode ofi* rapidly toward 
Basle. 

It was discovered the next day that he had gone ; his enemies 
were elated. ' ' He has fled the country, ' ' they said ; ' ' he has run 
away with a pack of scoundrels." All sorts of stories were put 



240 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 



• 



afloat. *'As he was crossing the river at Bnick," said some, 
*'the boat upset and he was drowned." Others declared, "The 
devil appeared to him bodily and carried him oflf. ' ' BuUinger 
says, ** there was no end to their stories." The council now re- 
solved to allow him to go — since he had gone at any rate — and sent 
a dignified councillor and an armed man or two to overtake him 
and attend him to Marburg. Zwingli was surprised at his own 
importance, when Basle and Strasburg sent statesmen and their 
theologians to conduct him on the way. QEcolampadius was in 
the goodly company. They went along by-roads, through forests, 
over mountains, and at length reached Marburg, escorted by forty 
Hessian cavaliers. 

Luther had come on from Wittemberg, in company with 
Melanchthon, Jonas and others, but stopped on the Hessian fron- 
tier, declaring that nothing should induce him to cross it without 
a safe-conduct from the prince. It was sent him, and he reached 
Alsfeld, where the students kneeling under the Reformer's win- 
dows chanted their pious hymns. He entered Marburg one day 
after the arrival of the Swiss. Both parties went to inns, but 
the landgrave Philip came down from his romantic castle over- 
looking the city, and invited them to lodge beneath its ancient 
Gothic arches. They went, and fiired like princes. '*Ah!" 
said the pious doctor Jonas, as he wandered through the halls 
of the palace, ''it is not in honour of the Muses, but in honour 
of God and of his Christ, that we are so munificently treated in 
these forests of Hesse." After dinner, (Ecolampadius, Hedio 
and Bucer went and saluted Luther in the castle-court. The 
strong Saxon talked affectionately with the Reformer of Basle, 
but he was rude toward Bucer, with whom he had once been in- 
timate, because the good pastor of Strasburg had joined the side 
of Zwingli. 



ZWINGLI FACES LUTHER. 241 

Philip wished the Eeformers to have private interviews with 
each other before entering upon the public discussion, that they 
might have free, unreserved conversation together. But he 
dared not put Luther and Zwingli together in the same room for 
such a purpose, lest they should become farther apart than ever 
before. It was thought to be wisest to give each of the cham- 
pions the gentle friend of the other. Hence Zwingli and Melanch- 
thon were placed in one room, and Luther and (Ecolampadius in 
another. The combatants were then left to struggle, two and two. 
We cannot but smile at the arrangement. It shows that Philip 
was not so shallow as to depend upon feasting the Keformers 
into unity. He wished them to be united by the truth. A 
union of mere feeling is nothing ; there must be agreement in 
faith — a faith that '^worketh by love.'^ 

In the room where Zwingli and Melanchthon were shut up 
together, the contest began. "It is affirmed," said Melanch- 
thon, " that some among you speak as if Christ were not essen- 
tially God."* Zwingli replied, "I think on the Holy Trinity 
with the Council of Nice and the Athanasian creed. " " Coun- 
cils ! creeds ! What does all that mean ?" asked Melanchthon. 
" Have you not continually repeated that you do not recognize 
any other authority than that of Scripture?" The answer of 
Zwingli was such that the Keformed t churches have ever since 
agreed with it: "We have never rejected the councils when 
they are based on the authority of the word of God. The first 
four councils are truly sacred as regards doctrine, and none of the 
faithful have rejected them." All this was at the basis of the 



* We give a mere abstract of a part of the conversation, 
f Those who accept Luther's views are called Reformers ; those who 
adopt the views of Zwingli and Calvin are known as the Reformed. 
21 



242 ULBICH ZWINGLI. 

discussion ; the standard of authority and appeal must first be 
understood. 

In the other room the same method of debate was followed. 
Luther complained because the Swiss would not admit that by 
baptism, simply, a man became a member of the Church. "It 
is true,*' replied QEcolampadius, *'that we require faith — either 
an actual or a future faith. Why should we deny it ? Who is 
a Christian but he who believes in Christ?" It was admitted 
that the infants of believing parents became members of the 
Church by baptism. 

The signal was given for dinner ; the four grave doctors met 
in the hall, and doubtless enjoyed the feast as one '* where love 
is," though it was not '*a dinner of herbs." Plans were pro- 
posed for a public debate. Luther opposed it ; Zwingli insisted. 
It was finally arranged that the princes, nobles, deputies and 
theologians should be admitted. A great crowd of citizens and 
many visitors from the neighbouring cities were excluded. On 
the day fixed, Philip took his seat in the knights' hall belonging 
to the castle, surrounded by the nobles of his court, but so plainly 
dressed that none would have taken him for a prince. He did 
not wish to appear as a Constantino taking part in the affairs of 
the Church. Before him was a table where the four leading Re- 
formers were seated. Behind them sat such men as Hedio, 
Bucer, Cruciger and Jonas. The eye of the good Jonas was 
studying the Reformer of Zurich, and he said, ' ' Zwingli has a 
certain rusticity and arrogance ; if he is well versed in letters 
(literature), it is in spite of the Muses. In (Ecolampadius there 
is a natural goodness and aniial^le meekness. Hedio seems as 
liberal as he is kind. But Bucer possesses the cunning of a fox, 
that knows how to give himself an air of sense and prudence. ' ' 
' Such was the opinion of Luther's confidant in regard to the Re- 



ZWINGLI FACES LUTHEE. 243 

fonned party. He was severest on those of very moderate views. 
If he could have enjoyed Bucer's hospitality at his home and 
heard him talk, he would not have set him among the foxes. 

Luther took a piece of chalk, bent over the table, and wrote 
upon the velvet cover four words. All eyes followed his hand, 
and soon read Hoc est corpus meum — "This is my body." He 
wished to have this text before him to strengthen his faith and 
be a sign to his opponents. After the conference was opened, 
Luther said, ''I protest that I differ from my adversaries with 
regard to the doctrine of the Lord's Supper, and that 1 shall 
always differ from them. Christ has said, This is my body. Let 
them show me that a body is not a body. I reject reason, com- 
mon sense, carnal arguments and mathematical proofs. God is 
above mathematics. We have the word of Grod ; we must rev- 
erence and obey it. " 

Zwingli let the discussion proceed for some time and remained 
silent, for QEcolampadius was deriving an argument from such 
expressions as " I am the Vine, " " That rock was Christ, " " The 
lamb is the passover." He insisted that in the Supper we re- 
ceive Christ spiritually — not bodily. Zwingli then showed how 
Christ teaehes that "to eat his flesh corporeally profiteth noth- 
ing," (John vi. 63). Whence it would follow, that if we receive 
him only bodily in the Supper, he has given us something of no 
profit to us. 

At this point a tall, spare man appeared to be greatly agitated. 
He was the Frenchman, Francis Lambert, who had once been 
convinced by Zwingli of his error in worshipping the saints. He 
had been at first on Luther's side, but in coining to the confer- 
ence had said, "I desire to be a sheet of blank paper, on which 
the finger of Grod may write his truth. ' ' Now he heard Zwingli 
argue that the bread, in the Supper, represents Christ's body, 



244 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

and eating it, we receive Christ spiritually, by faith; also that 
'*the soul is fed by the Spirit and not with the flesh, for it is 
the Spirit that quicJceneth.^^ ''Yes! the Spirit, it is that which 
vivifies," exclaimed Lambert. He was converted to Zwingli's 
side. The Wittembergers shrugged their shoulders and called it 
' ' Gallic fickleness. " ' ' What I ' ' replied Lambert, ' ' was St. Paul 
fickle because he was converted from Pharisaism? And have we 
ourselves been fickle in abandoning the lost sects of popery?" 

Yet Luther persisted in his corporeal view. This is my hody^ 
he repeated, pointing to his favourite words. "The devil him- 
self shall not drive me from that. To seek to understand it is to 
fall away from the faith. ' ' 

"But, doctor," said Zwingli, "St. John explains how Christ^s 
body is eaten, and you will be obliged at last to leave off singing 
always the same song." 

"You make use of unmannerly expressions," was the retort. 
Luther forgot that the Wittembergers had called Zwingli's argu- 
ment "his old song." The Zurich Reformer, maintaining his 
coolness, inquired, "Whether Christ, in the sixth chapter of 
John, did not wish to reply to the question that had been put to 
him?" (Verse 52: "How can this man give us his flesh to 
eat?") 

"Master Zwingli, you wish to stop my mouth by the arrogancy 
of your language. That passage has nothing to do here." 
Zwingli, hastily: "Pardon me, doctor, that passage breaks your 
neck." "Do not boast so much!" said Luther. "You are in 
Hesse, and not in Switzerland. In this country we do not break 
people's necks." Then turning to his friends, he added, "He 
uses camp terms and blood-stained words." Luther knew full 
well that it was a mere playful expression, for he himself had 
used a similar one in speaking of Carlstadt. 



ZWINGLI FACES LUTHER. 245 

"In Switzerland also," replied Zwingli, calmly, "there is strict 
justice, and we break no man's neck without trial. That expres- 
sion merely signifies that your cause is lost and hopeless." 

"Doctor," said the prince to Luther, "you should not be of- 
fended at such common expressions." But rough Swiss and 
stubborn Saxon had clashed ; oil did not quench the flames. 
The prince arose and led the combatants to dinner. 

We thus give a specimen of the few sallies of severe words 
that passed in a discussion that lasted for several days, and was 
generally conducted "with very great courtesy," says an eye- 
witness. ' ' During the colloquy no other words were heard than. 
' Sir, ' and ' very dear friend, ' and ' your charity, ' and such like. 
Not a word of schism or of heresy. It might have been said 
that Luther and Zwingli were brothers and not adversaries." 
So reports Brentz, but Jonas calls the conference " a very sharp 
contest. " It is well for us to know that the Keformers were hu- 
man, "of like passions with us." One cannot but see that 
Luther was not the gentlest of men in the world. 

When again in the hall Zwingli began to cite a text from the 
original Greek, Luther interrupted him, saying, "Read to us 
in Latin or in German, not in Greek. ' ' Zwingli wittily replied 
in Latin, "Pardon me; for twelve years I have made use of the 
Greek Testament only." Then he went on to show that the 
body of Christ was finite like our own. It could be in only one 
place at a time. He ascended bodily up into heaven. "If 
Christ be in heaven bodily, how can he be in the bread bodily?" 
Luther still pointed to his text written on the velvet cover. He 
would listen to no argument from reason or Scripture. At 
length, resolved never to be convinced, he seized the velvet 
cover, raised it from the table, held it before the eyes of Zwingli 
and (Ecolampadius, and exclaimed, in great earnestness, "Seel 



246 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

see ! Tliis is our text. You have not driven us from it, . . . and 
we care for none of your proofs. ' ' His great apologist Secken- 
dorf says, ' ' As Luther was of an intractable and imperious dis- 
position, he did not cease from calling upon the Swiss to submit 
simply to his opinion." 

Philip's chancellor exhorted them to come to some understand- 
ing. "I know but one means for that," said Luther; "and 
this is it. Let our adversaries believe as we do. " " We cannot, ' ' 
replied the Swiss. '' Well then," rejoined Luther. " I abandon 
you to God's judgment and pray that he will enhghten you." 
"We will do the same," added CEcolampadius. While these 
words were passing, Zwingli sat silent, motionless and deeply 
moved. He had given frequent proofs of the fervour of his af- 
fections; now he gave another in a different manner. "Every 
one saw that his eyes were swimming with tears' ' on account of 
Luther's obstinacy.* 

The conference was ended. The prince declared, on his death- 
bed, years afterward, that he had been won over to Zwingli's 
views by the arguments advanced on the occasion. The discus- 
sion was one of the most important of those times, where dispu- 
tations were the order of the day. It was the greatest of all 
held among the lleformers themselves. It was intended for 
uniting both parties, but the result was that it drew more clearly 
the lines between the Lutherans and the Reformed. 

A great plague, "the sweating sickness," broke out in Mar- 
burg during those days, and created frightful ravages. Every- 
body was in alarm. All visitors wished to leave the city. Philip, 



* " Luther did not oomo to prove and to weigh, free of prejudice, the 
arguments of his opponent, but from the very first to reject them."— 
Ehrard on the Lord'n Supper, 



ZWINGLI FACES LUTHER. 247 

toiling still for union, said, "Sirs, 5^011 cannot separate thus.'* 
He took one after another of them aside into his room; he pressed, 
entreated, warned, exhorted and conjured them. He thought the 
Reformation would be wrecked if the Reformers did not combine 
ill one great organization. " Never did a general at the head of 
an army take such pains to win a battle." Zwingli, too, was 
earnest for union, if unity was not possible, "Let us confess 
our union in all things in which we agree, ' ' said he, ' ' and as 
for the rest, let us remember that we are brothers. There will 
never be peace in the Church if we cannot differ on secondary 
points, while we all maintain the grand doctrine of salvation by 
faith." 

" Yes, yes !" exclaimed the prince, "you agree ! Give then a 
testimony of your unity. ' ' Zwingli said to the Wittemberg doc- 
tors, his friends joining with him, "There is no one on earth 
with whom I more desire to be united than with you." 

" x\cknowlege them as brothers," said the enthusiastic Philip. 
Their hearts were moved; they were on the eve of union. 
Zmngli, bursting into tears [so says Luther], approached the 
Saxon Reformer and held out his hand. The two families of 
the Reformation were about to be reconciled. But Luther re- 
jected the hand that was offered him, saying, " You have a dif- 
ferent spirit from ours !" The Swiss were shocked. Truly they 
had " a different spirit." Their hearts sank, as Luther kept on 
repeating the words. He himself is the man who records it. 

' ' You do not belong to the communion of the Christian 
Church," said the Lutheran Brentz. " We cannot acknowledge 
3^ou as brethren." Luther said the same. Thus ran the con- 
versation for a short time, when the Swiss said, ' ' We are con- 
scious of having acted as if in the presence of God. Posterity 
will be our witness." The prince was indignant at Luther, who 



248 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

seemed now to be staggered. He said to his colleagues, ''Let us 
beware of wiping our noses too roughly, lest we bring the 
blood." Then turning to Zwingli and (Ecolampadius, he and his 
friends said, "We do acknowledge you as friends; we do not 
consider you as brothers and members of Christ's Church. But 
we do not exclude you from that universal charity which we owe 
even to our enemies. ' ' 

Such a concession was a new insult to the Swiss, who said, 
"Let us carefully avoid all harsh and violent words and writings, 
and let each defend himself without railing." Luther then ad- 
vanced and said to them, "We consent, and I offer j^ou the hand 
of peace and charity." The Swiss rushed with great emotion 
toward the Wittembergers, and the shaking of hands delighted 
the prince. ' ' Assuredly, ' ' said Luther, ' ' a great part of the scan- 
dal is removed by the suppression of our fierce debates ; we could 
not have hoped for so much. May Christ's hand remove the 
last obstacle that separates us. There is now a friendly concord 
between us, and if we persevere in prayer, brotherhood will 
come. ' ' 

"We must let the Christian world know," said the prince, 
" that you agree in the articles of faith, except as to the manner 
of Christ's presence in the Eucharist." This had the assent of 
all. But who should draw up the paper? All looked at Lu- 
ther. The Swiss appealed to his impartiality. He went to his 
room, uneasy, lost in thought and perplexed. " I will draw up 
the articles," said he, "but do I not know that they will never 
sign them ?" He did not appreciate the eager desire of Zwingli 
and his party for union. Fifteen articles were produced. They 
were read. They were little more than an expansion of the so- 
called "Apostles' Creed," except on the Lord's Supper. In 
this the chief point was, "that the spiritual reception of this 



ZWINGLI FACES LUTHER. 249 

body and blood is specially necessary to every true Christian. ' ' 
They were signed by both parties and sent to the press. 

The prince gathered all the doctors at his table on the last 
day ; they shook hands and parted. Luther left with a spirit of 
alarm in his heart. " He writhed in the dust like a worm," he 
tells us. He imagined that he would never see his wife and 
children again. Perhaps the great cause of all this was the ad- 
vance of the Turks to Vienna, where, a Turkish chronicler says, 
' ' the balls flew through the air like a flight of small birds. ' ' 
But in a few days ' ' the shadow of God over the two worlds' ' as 
Soliman called himself, "retreated, disappeared and vanished in 
the Bosphorus. ' ' 

Zwingli too went in alarm, but not at the Turks. It was at 
Luther's intolerance. He said "Lutheranism will lie as heavy 
upon us as popery. ' ' But he was braced up by the conviction that 
the truth had won a new conquest. ''The truth has so mani- 
festly prevailed," said he, ''that if ever any one has been de- 
feated before all the world, it is Luther, although he constantly 
exclaimed that he was invincible Luther acts like an un- 
skilful swordsman, who says, after he is disarmed, that his op- 
ponent knows not the art." This was true. Luther assumed 
the air of a conqueror, when Zwingli was so in reality. The doc- 
trine of the Swiss became more generally known and adopted in 
other lands. ^ The great result of the Marburg conference was 
not to bring out the differences between the Swiss and German 



'^ Father Paul Sarpi, whose history of the council of Trent shows that 
he had some sympathies with the Reformers, declared that the wide re- 
ception of Zwingli's doctrine was a manifest proof that a higher power 
than that of Zwingli was concerned in it. It prepared the way for the 
clearer statements on the Lord's Supper made by Calvin. 



250 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

Reformers, but to exhibit their unity in the great principles of 
their faith. Certain men, widely separated, unknown to each 
other and without the least concert, had derived from the Bible 
the same essential doctrines of saving power. They had met; their 
enemies had thought they would be as far apart as the poles, and 
would wrangle and destroy themselves ; but they found a unity in 
their diversity. The Romanists soon learned, to their chagrin, 
of this union in faith, and sought to make a complete end of the 
Reformation the next year at Augsburg. 

Zwingli reached home in safety, and found the affairs of Switzer- 
land in a most unhappy state. In fact, if he had been more de- 
voted to politics than to truth, he would not have gone to Mar- 
burg, for serious trouble had been long fermenting. We now di- 
rect attention to them, for in them the earthly destiny of our 
Reformer was involved. 




wiT/ 



CHAPTER XXI. 

TAKING THE SWOB J), 
(1538-1539.) 

THE finger has been pointed at Zwingli in proof of the Lord's 
declaration, "They that take the sword shall perish with 
the sword. ' ' He has been blamed for the active part which he 
took in the political affairs of his country. He was indeed a fer- 
vent patriot ; he was far more, for in his patriotism he wished to 
establish a Reformed State as well as a Reformed Church. He 
fiiUy believed that the word of God ought to control politics as 
truly as religion. Every Christian must admit this, although he 
may not approve of the manner in which the Swiss Reformer 
attempted to bring all things in subjection to the word of the 
Lord. Perhaps his error was very great and inexcusable ; if so, 
it furnishes a lesson that the Christian should never forget. Per- 
haps his error was greatly extenuated by the times, the circum- 
stances and the apparent necessities of the case ; if so, let us 
judge of him by the facts of history. Into all these facts we 
have not space to enter ; some of the leading events will throw 
light upon the course taken by the Reformer. 
There were five cantons^ that fiercely and stoutly resisted the 



* This title is given to the Ptomish party in Switzerland because it was 
led on by these cantons. The terms "Five Places," " Waldstettes/' 
" Forest Cantons," are sometimes used. A map will show that they lie in 

251 



252 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

Reform. They were Uri, Schwytz, Unterwalden, Zug and 
Lucerne. They were intensely given to popery. We do not for- 
get how Oswald Myconius had been driven out of the city of 
Lucerne, and Zwingli burned in ef^gy. These were specimens 
of what the five cantons were ever ready to do. Einsidlen was 
the only bright spot in Schwytz, and its glory was departing. 
Zwingli did all he could to persuade them to send deputies to 
the conferences and learn the truth. * ' We wish the new faith 
eternally buried," said the people of Uri. *' We will have noth- 
ing to do with the new sect, ' ' replied Unterwalden. These five 
cantons were not all ; the Romanists held great power in almost 
every other canton except Berne and Zurich. In some districts 
the people never knew what to expect ; now one party, now the 
other had the influence. In Bremgarten, the gray-haired Dean 
Bullinger said to his people, " that for three and thirty years he 
had been their pastor, walking blindly and leading the blind. 
But now he had the light. Might God pardon him for his unin- 
tentional error, and henceforth enable him to guide the flock into 
the word of God?" For this he was deposed, but when his son 
Henry* became his successor, he was permitted to preach the 
word of God *' according to its divine meaning," which he was 
rejoiced to do. 

Such was the ground on which rose up one of the great par- 
ties which prepared for war. The vicar John Faber was all the 
while arousing them to resist the Reform. He sought to draw 
them into an alliance with Austria, the great enemy against 
which their fathers had fought for liberty. War was preparing 



the very heart of Switzerland, and separate the two most powerful Pro- 
toBtant cantons of Zurich and Berne. 
• Chapter xxvi. 



TAKING THE SWORD. 253 

by the Romanists of all Europe to crush out Protestantism."^ 
Was it strange that Zwingli thought of self-defence ? 

What was the strength of the Protestants in Switzerland? 
Zurich and Berne were strongly decided for the Reform. Basle 
was taking her stand with them. SchaiFhausen had long ' ' halted 
between two opinions, ' ' but at last quietly removed the images, 
and brought in the true ordinances of the Church. We remem- 
ber how bailiff Amberg stole away parson Exlin, and how the 
Wirths were burned ; yet in the canton of Thurgau the Word 
had its triumphs in many parishes. In Constance there were 
many Protestants despite the bishop. In one town the people 
flung away the statue of St. Blaise, but the poor image felt 
lonely and disconsolate in its banishment ; so, casting an eye 
toward a more appreciative quarter, it swam across the Lake of 
Constance into Wurtemburg ! if we may believe the monk who 
described the miracle. In St. Gall the good work had prospered 
under Doctor Yadian. Nearly three-fourths of the people of 
Appenzell voted for the Reform soon after Zwingli' s death. In 
Glaris there was a violent struggle. In one parish the pastor 
was in the church waiting for the priests to come and debate with 
him. To his surprise they came, marching with drums, entered 
his house and broke his furniture; the pastor's friends took their 
revenge by breaking to pieces the images in the church. It was 
then agreed that every man might choose between the mass of 
the priest and the sermon of the preacher. The town of Wesen, 



* " Five catholic cantons entered into a solemn league, by oath, to de- 
fend Rome and suppress the cause of the Reformation. They formed a 
treaty with Ferdinand (of Austria), the brother of Charles. V., for uphold- 
in o* the ancient worship; some of the Protestant pastors became victims 
of their cruel hate, and all things portended the approach of a season of 
war and bloodshed." — Morriaon'a Prot. Reform, 
22 



254 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

where Zwingli had lived with his uncle until he outgrew it, was 
threatened by Schwytz, which joined with Glaris in its govern- 
ment. The young men did not like threats; they took the 
images out of the churches, carried them to the head of Lake 
AV^allenstadt, and said to them : " This road leads along the lake 
to Coire and Rome ; this southward to Glaris ; this westward to 
Schwytz, and the fourth northward into St. Gall. Take which 
you please ! But if you do not move oiF, you shall be burnt !'* 
The young people waited a few moments, and then flung the 
poor motionless images into the flames. Certain men of 
Schwytz saw the execution, went home and plotted schemes of 
vengeance upon the town of Wesen. 

Zwingli could see a large field with a rich harvest upon it. A 
map will show how it lay in almost a circle around the five can- 
tons. Haller could have started out upon a visit and made the 
circuit, dining and lodging almost every noon and night with 
some good parish minister, and hearing good reports from the 
lips of such men as (Ecolampadius, Hofmeister and Vadian. 
When on the eastern borders he could have crossed into the 
country of the Grisons and found the writings of Zwingli in the 
hands of the peasants, or heard sermons with the true ring in 
them from the pulpit. The voice of the Swiss Reformer was 
resounding among the mountains of the Tyrol, and crossing the 
Rhctian Alps was heard among the lakes at Como and Locarno. 
Why should he not hope that Zurich might cast her gospel light 
completely around the five cantons, until, encircled by the 
brightness, they would yield to the truth? Or why not push on 
the work into Austria and Italy, and give Rome so much to do 
that she must draw off some of her forces from Switzerland ? 
But Zwingli committed certain mistakes ; perhaps we may de- 
scribe them. 



TAKING THE SWORD. 255 

I. The union of the churches was not regarded as of sufficient 
importance. This would have secured more religious and spir- 
itual effort. Missions would have been set on foot. A confes- 
sion of faith would have been formed. To these matters Farel 
and Calvin afterward paid earnest attention. They laboured 
for a strong union of the churches within the range of their 
influence. 

II. The union of their cantons was made the basis of strength. 
This brought Zwingli into politics and State affairs. D'Aubigne 
says, "It was the very extension of the Eeform in Switzerland 
that exposed it to the dangers under which it sank. So long as 
it was concentrated at Zurich, it continued a religious matter ; 
but when it gained Berne, Basle, Schaffhausen, St. Gall, Glaris, 
Appenzell and numerous bailiwicks, it formed inter-cantonal re- 
lations ; and — here was the error and misfortune — while the con- 
nection should have taken place between Church and Church, 
it was formed between State and State. As soon as spiritual 
and political matters became mingled together, the latter took 
the upper hand." 

It certainly was not an error for Zwingli to denounce national 
sins, as he had done from the first, and to promote that ' ' right- 
eousness which exalteth a nation ; " he might display his pa- 
triotism along with his piety, and labour to infuse religion into 
politics ; but State affairs should not have drawn him from the 
special work of religious reform. He became not only pastor 
but statesman — not only minister but magistrate. And yet there 
seemed to be a necessity for it. No one among the Swiss Pro- 
testants of his times saw so clearly the dangers that threatened 
the Reformed cantons. "If he retired, the vessel of the State 
would be left without a pilot. Besides, he was convinced that 
political acts alone could save the Reform. He resolved, there- 



256 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

fore, to be at one and the same time, the man of the State and 
of the Church. The registers prove that, in his later years, he 
took part in the most important dehberations."* 

The imperial town of Constance had become so Reformed that 
the bishop and canons had left in disgust. But the emperor 
threatened it. Constance wanted help to defend herself, and en- 
tered into the league. She asked Zurich to join it. Zwingli 
advised the movement. The alliance was formed on Christmas 
day, 1527. It was called ''The Christian Burgher-Righf The 
design was to prevent " the ruin of confederate and civil unity." 
It was made '4n the name of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of 
God, our Redeemer. ' ' In this name the parties agreed ' ' to de- 
fend and protect each other with their lives and chattels." De- 
vising peace, they opened the way for war. The next year 
Berne, St. Gall, and some Swiss towns joined the co-burghery. 
Zwingli was greatly blamed for all this, even by many of his 
friends. It looked hke forming a new confederation. 

III. An allicince was sought with Protestant coiintrne^.f The 
five cantons had allied themselves with Austria, which they had 
no right to do without the consent of the whole Swiss confedera- 
tion. Berne and Zurich had the right to make atiy alliance they 
chose. Zwingli thought if all Protestant cities and countries 
were united in one holy and powerful league against Rome, the 
Reformation would be strongly defended against all enemies. 
PhiUp of Hesse hailed with joy the idea of the new *' Reformed 
Defensive Alliance," which was born at Zurich. The scheme 



* D'Aubigno ; who also says, " The politioal phasis of Zwingli's charac- 
ter is in the eyes of sorae persons his highest claim to glory; wo do not 
hesitate to acknowledge it as his greatest fault." 

•f This alliance was not formally made until after the first war. Zwin- 
gli and Philip of llosso consulted about it at the Marburg conference. 



TAKING THE SWORD. 257 

looked magnificent. All Protestants in one grand league against 
the pope! Even Francis I., King of France, might join it, for 
had he not read the book which Zwingli had dedicated to him? 
Francis was, however, the last man to read ' ' The True and False 
Religion, " or to ally himself very closely with the Protestants. 
This splendid dream would all vanish so soon as the eyes of the 
dreamers would be opened. But it cost Zwingli great labour, 
and raised up many foes. 

Great was the wrath of the five cantons when it was known 
that the Reformed States were entering into these alliances. In 
their Diet sat William of Diesbach, a Bernese, and he was so 
keenly reproached because Berne favoured them that he retorted 
upon the Romanists, saying, ' ' You may try to patch up the old 
faith ; it cannot last much longer. ' ' He left the wrathy council- 
lors in disgust. ' ' They patched away with all their might, ' ' but 
their venomous needle drew blood. Persecution was increased. 
Amberg led on the papists in Thurgau. The Reformed people 
were fined, imprisoned, tortured, scourged and banished; their 
goods were confiscated ; their pastors had their tongues cut out, 
or they were beheaded or burned. Bibles and evangelical books 
were taken away and cast into the flames. Refugees from Aus- 
tria were given up to their mad pursuers. And still the gospel 
won more and more believers. The bishop of Constance wrote 
to the five cantons that if they did not act more vigorously, the 
whole country would embrace the Reform. They held a confer- 
ence at Frauenfield. All persons of note in that region came to 
it. The papists hoped to produce a tremendous efi'ect on the 
people. But some deputies from Berne and Zurich were there. 
They told the people how things went on in their country. 
They begged them to honour God and not fear the threats of the 
world. Their speeches made a great impression in favour of the 

22* 



258 ULEICH ZWIXGLT. 

gospel. Soon after the people called for the preaching of the 
word of God, caring little for the increased wrath of the five 
cantons. 

Amberg and his friends wished to see the Austrian governor 
and secure help. But to go boldly, in open day, would create an 
uproar. Letters were exchanged; messengers passed to and fro; 
the plan was laid. A wedding in high rank was to come off 
over the Rhine at Feldkirch. The party formed, the deputies 
of the five cantons rode in the centre of the train, in order to es- 
cape detection, and they entered the town. Amberg met the 
governor and begged for help against "the enemies of our an- 
cient faith." Even the Austrians were astonished that the free 
Swiss should ask the aid of their old enemy and oppressor. But 
some weeks afterward the alliance was formed with Austria. It 
ran : * ' Whosoever shall form new sects among the people ^hall be 
punished by death, and, if need be, with the help of Austria. 
In an emergency Austria shall send into Switzerland six thousand 
foot soldiers, four hundred horse and all the requisite artiller>^ 
If necessary, all the Reformed cantons shall be blockaded and 
their provisions cut off." Let this agreement be remembered; 
the example will prove dangerous to its framers. The first steps 
to offensive war were taken by the Romish cantons. This Aus- 
trian alliance might have been endured and war averted had it 
not been for the burning of a Protestant. 

Parson James Keyser, called "the Locksmith of Utznach," 
went often from his home and family in Zurich to a little town in 
the district of Gastcr to preach the good tidings, which were 
joyfully received. He had a call to the place. One day, when 
going through the forest to preach on the morrow, six men rushed 
from llioir hiding-place, seized him, oMrricfl hini into Schwyfz 
and (KTiverod him up to the magistrates, saying, *'Tho hniliffs 



TAKING THE SWORD. 259 

have ordered all innovating preachers to be brought before the 
judges; here is one for you." Schwytz had no authority in 
Gaster, but Keyser was hated because he had been pastor and 
had preached zealously against images at Ufnau, where Ulrich 
Hutten died. Zurich pleaded for her minister, but her voice was 
not regarded. The Romanists wanted a victim, and the poor 
man was soon condemned to be burned alive. When told of the 
infamous sentence, he wept in his distress and timidity. But 
when walking to the stake he grew cheerful, courageous, strong 
in faith, and he died giving thanks to the Lord. "Gro and tell 
them at Zurich how he thanks us ! " said one of the heartless 
judges, with a sarcastic grin, to the Zurich deputies. This was 
adding insult to cruelty. The council of that canton also sent 
word to Zurich, saying, ''If you had had the interests of your 
parson as much at heart as you pretend in your letter to us, you 
would have kept him with you, and not left him with our people. 
This would have been most agreeable to us, and better for him.'* 
This was still more provoking. 

Zwingli now felt that the cup was full; it must overflow. 
Seven days after Keyser' s pile flamed up as a signal for war 
there were other causes of excitement. The Austrians were re- 
ported to be raising an army for an invasion of Switzerland. The 
five cantons were swearing vengeance for the burning of their 
images. The council of Zurich resolved upon war. Zwingli, 
the pastor, the statesman, became almost the general of the 
army : ''this triple part of the Reformer was the ruin of the Re- 
formation and of himself" He called for energetic measures. 
In the streets, in the councils, in the pulpits, everywhere he 
preached war. He thought the gospel must be defended by the 
sword. Gideon and Joshua were like examples to him. 

Poor people driven out of their houses in the five cantons 



260 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

came to Zurich, saying, *'We will be burned in our villages be- 
cause we have broken up our images." Zwingli listened to their 
cries of sorrow, and felt the more strongly the gospel must have 
free course in Switzerland. "Let us be severe upon these 
haughty chiefs," he said to the Zurichers. "The mildness of 
the lamb only renders the wolf more savage. Let us propose to 
the five cantons to allow free preaching, to renounce their wicked 
alliances and to punish the mercenaries. As for the mass, im- 
ages, rites and superstitions, let no one be forced to give them 
up. This we leave for the Bible to effect. ' ' 

But it was too late to propose anything. Already were the 
five cantons enlisting soldiers. Zurich began to send out her 
men to hold important posts. The young burgomaster Roust 
said to the Reformer, "We do not wish you to go to the war, 
because the pope, the emperor, the bishops, the abbots and the 
Romish cantons hate you mortally. Stay with the council ; we 
need you here." 

" No," replied Zwingli, who was not willing to confide the en- 
terprise to any one; "when my brethren expose their lives. T will 
not remain quietly at home. Besides, the army needs a watchful 
eye over it." He took down his glittering halberd, which is said 
to have been borne by him at Marignan, placed it on his shoul- 
der, mounted his horse and set out for the war. The people 
were surprised ;. they crowded into the streets to see him ; they 
covered the walls, towers and battlements, and among the old 
men, the women and children was Anna Zwingli, wondering if 
she was to lose another husband in Uittle. 

The Zurich warriors were at Cappel. They sent the challenge 
to the army of the five cantons at Zug. Little Zug was terribly 
frightened, being the smallest of all the Swiss States. The war 
was about to begin. Captain William Toning was to lead his 



TAKING THE SWORD. 261 

Zurichers over the border and make the attack. Just then a 
horseman came galloping up the mountain. It was Ebli of 
Grlaris, one of Zwingli's noblest old parishioners, and friendly to 
the gospel. " I have prevailed on the five cantons to halt," said 
he ; "I want you to do the same. For the love of God and for 
the safety of the confederation, I entreat you suspend your 
march." He shed the tears of a patriot. "In a few hours I 
shall be back again," he added. " I hope, with God's grace, to 
obtain an honorable peace, and prevent our cottages from being 
filled with orphans." 

The advance was checked. The soldiers began to raise their 
tents only a little way from the sentinels or ' ' pickets' ' of the 
other army. Zwingli sat in his tent silent, sad and fearful of 
some distressing news. It cannot be said that he was anxious 
for war. Oswald Myconius, who perhaps knew him best, said, 
" Zwingli was certainly an intrepid man in the midst of danger, 
but he always had a horror of blood, even that of his most deadly 
foes. The freedom of his country, the virtues of our forefathers, 
and, above all, the glory of Christ, were the sole end of all his de- 
signs." And yet Zwingli said, when fearing some trick or trea- 
son, "Let us not be staggered; our destiny depends upon our 
courage. To-day they beg and entreat, but in a month after we 
have laid down our arms they will crush us. Let us stand firm 
in God. Before all things let us be just ; peace will come after 
that." The time delayed. 

The soldiers were not so serious. The advanced posts on each 
side, were in the best of humour, as if it were but a holiday. 
They met, shook hands, called themselves confederates and 
brothers. " There will be no fighting," they would say. "A 
storm is passing over our heads, but we will pray to God, and he 
will preserve us from all harm. ' ' In the army of the five can- 



262 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

tons there was a scarcity of food, but the Zurichers were feasting 
and wasting. Some young foresters, half starved, got beyond 
their hnes one day ; the Zurichers captured them, led them to 
the camp, loaded them with provisions, and sent them back in 
all good nature. On another day the hungry soldiers placed a 
bucket of milk on the front line, and called out that they had no 
bread. The Zurichers ran, cut their bread into the Zugers' 
milk, and then both parties sat down to pass their jokes and 
*' eat out of the same dish — some on this side, some on that.** 
What pleased the Zurichers was, that the others were willing to 
eat with ' ' heretics, ' ' a thing which their priests had forbidden. 

The most perfect order reigned in the camp at Cappel. Every 
day Zwingli, or the eloquent Smith, or Francis Zing, then abbot 
of a neighbouring convent, or some other good minister, preached 
to the soldiers. No oath, nor quarrel was heard. Bad company 
was kept at a distance. Prayers were oflFered before every meaL 
There was no playing at dice and cards. Now was heard the 
national song, and again the Christian hymn. There were 
amusements of a healthy kind, and a fair amount of drilling. 
Thus the Reformer seemed to impress his spirit upon the army. 
Affairs were not so orderly in the camp of the enemy. 

Messengers of peace arrived before the war had actually be- 
gim. The slow business of negotiating went on. The terms 
were settled, June 26, 1559, about two weeks after the outbreak. 
The conditions were, that the gospel should be preached freely 
throughout the whole confederacy — that all alliances against it 
should be null and void — that the mass and images be left to the 
choice of the people — that the mercenaries be forbidden to take 
rewards from foreign princes — that the five cantons pay the ex- 
penses of the war — and that Schwytz pay a thousand florins to 
the children of the martyred Keyser. 



TAKING THE SWORD. 263 

The five cantons, "champing the bit that had been put into 
their mouths/' were not willing to give up the deed of their alli- 
ance with Austria. Some Bernese deputies said to these j)apal 
chiefs, ' ' If you do not deliver up this document^ we will go in 
procession and tear it from your archives/' It was brought, two 
hours after midnight. All the army was called out the next day 
to hear it read. The Zurichers wondered at so huge a parch- 
ment, bearing nine seals, one of them of gold. Scarcely had the 
reading begun when Ebli of Grlaris snatched it, crying, 
* ' Enough, enough. " * ' Read it, read it, ' ' shouted the Zurichers ; 
"we want to learn their treason." But the peace-loving Ebli 
replied boldly, "I would rather be cut into a thousand pieces 
than permit it. ' ' Then piercing it with his knife, he cut it in 
pieces, and the flames soon finished it. "The paper was not 
Swiss," says BuUinger with sublime simplicity, "and what be- 
came of the seals I do not know. ' ' The banners were struck, the 
soldiers marched for their homes. But many men of the five 
cantons gritted their teeth and declared that they would preserve 
their " ancient faith," as if the truth was not more ancient than 
their errors. 

In some of Zwingli's thoughtful hours while with the army, 
and while anxious for the Church, he composed a hymn, which 
became celebrated on the battle-fields of Switzerland, among the 
burghers of the cities, and even in royal palaces : 

Do thou direct thy chariot, Lord, 

And guide us at thy will ; 
Without thy aid our strength is vain 

And useless all our skill. 
Look down' upon thy saints brought loT, 
And prostrate laid beneath the foe. 



264 tJLRICH ZWINGLI. 

Beloved Pastor, who hast saved 

Our souls from death and sin : 
Uplift thy voice, awake thy sheep ; 

They slumbering lie within 
Thy fold ; and curb, with thy right hand, 
The rage of Satan's furious band. 

Send down thy peace and banish strife, 

Let bitterness depart; 
Revive the spirit of the past 

In every Switzer's heart; 
Then shall thy Church for ever sing 
The praises of her heavenly King. 

The treaty was favourable to the lleform, in so far as it sheathed 
the sword and gave time to spread abroad the gospel. But 
Zwingli foresaw that the sting had not been taken away from his 
enemies, and he said, * ' The peace of Cappel will have this re- 
sult, that we shall not long have to fold our hands idly over our 
heads.'' 




CHAPTER XXII. 

TJELE GOSJPJEZ WEAPONS. 
(1530— 1530.) 

WAR was averted, the halberd was hung on the wall, and the 
sword of the Spirit was resumed. Zwingli laboured with 
voice, pen and prayer, as if his motto was, * ' the weapons of our 
warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling 
down of strongholds." It is not to be supposed that he had, for 
one moment, entirely lost sight of his work as a minister of God, 
a theologian and a leader of the spiritual army, 

Who battled under heaven's King, with all their might and main, 
To drive the hosts of Satan far from every tower and plain, 
And by the Word each heart and home, each vale and village win, 
And to the Lord present a land redeemed from raging sin. 

The pen of the Reformer wrought marvellously. If we were 
only informed of the fact that, within about two years, he wrote 
and published his two commentaries on Isaiah and Jeremiah, his 
full treatise on the Providence of God, and the two confessions 
of faith addressed to Francis I. and Charles V. , we should ad- 
mire his earnestness in study, his devotion to the truth and his 
zeal for the kingdom of Christ. But his labours appear aston- 
ishing when we know that he preached without ceasing, attended 
the Marburg conference soon after the peace of Cappel, visited 

the eastern cantons, presided at synods, attended to the order 
23 . 265 



266 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

and discipline of the Reformed Church, and up to the very last 
days of his life never ceased to ur^ on the good work in distant 
lands. Besides the *' care of the churches/' he took on him the 
care of the States. Let us see what advantage was taken of the 
lull in the storm. 

It was said of Zwingli that ' ' his eye and his arm were every- 
where." The Romanists became alarmed at the quiet work in 
progress. One of their chroniclers said, "A set of wretched 
mischief-makers burst into the five cantons, and destroj^ed souls 
by scattering abroad their songs, tracts and Testaments, telling 
the people that they could learn the truth from these, and that 
one need not believe what the priests said." The Romanists, 
punning upon a good man's name, said that "it was the devil 
(Tufel) that introduced the Reformation at Zurzack, on the 
Rhine." When the priest of that place was preaching one day, 
a man named Tufel raised his head and said, "Sir, you are 
heaping insults on good men, and loading the pope and the Ro- 
mish saints with honour; pray, where do we find that in the Holy 
Scriptures?" At this serious question many smiled slj-ly, but 
the priest, surprised, at his wit's end and trembling, reviled the 
inquirer as the devil and said, "For this reason I will have 
nothing to do with thee." He ran from the pulpit as if he be- 
lieved the evil one was on his track. The people recognized the 
bold Tufel as a messenger of God to them, broke their images, 
forsook the mass and accepted the gospel. In rough times we 
must expect rude scenes. 

The convent of St. Gall, claiming a foundation by Gallus the 
Irish missionary, was one of the great strongholds of supersti- 
tion. It was fortified by the traditions of nine centuries. At 
the very time wlien Zurich sounded the call for arms the abbot 
Francis was thrown into a fright. He was aged and on the brink 



THE GOSPEL WEAPONS. 267 

of death. The canton was sending troops to the war or posting 
them quite near to the venerated monastery. The abbot had 
himself removed to a strong castle, lest he should witness some 
fearful work of pillage. The convent was entered four days af- 
terward by the peaceable burgomaster Vadian, who informed the 
monks that the people intended to resume the use of the cathe- 
dral church and to remove the images. The friars begged, pro- 
tested, cried for help, and thought such a change would be a 
most audacious sacrilege. But the Reformer of St. Gall was an 
unyielding rock against such wild surges of passion. They hid 
away their most precious goods and fled to Einsidlen. 

One of these monks was Kilian Kouffi, a native of the Tock- 
enburg. Crafty and vigorous, he was the head-steward of the 
convent. His first care was for a successor to the dying abbot, 
and he knew of no one who desired the office more than himself. 
Going to the castle, he had an understanding with those who 
waited on the aged father that they should not report his death. 
He expired very soon. Kilian watched the servants as they car- 
ried in the meals as usual, and with downcast eyes whispered to 
them about the health of the abbot. While the death was thus 
kept a secret from all who were likely to have other plans, the 
monks at Einsidlen elected Kilian as the successor. He soon 
proclaimed himself as the new abbot. But Zurich and Glaris, 
which had part of the control over the convent, would not recog- 
nize him unless he could prove by Scripture that a monkish life 
was in accordance with the gospel. ' ' We are ready, ' ' they said 
through Zwingli, "to protect the house of God, but we require 
that it be consecrated anew to the Lord. We do not forget that 
it is our duty also to protect the people. The free Church of 
Christ should raise its head in the bosom of a free people.'* 

The ministers of St. Gall published forty-two theses, in one of 



268 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

which they declared that convents were not " houses of God, but 
houses of the devil. ' ' The abbot, supported by the five cantons, 
repUed that he could not dispute about rights which he held from 
kings and emperors. Thus the two natives of the Tockenburg 
were struggling for the abbey; one was a man born from the 
ranks of the people — honest, unselfish and devoted to the libera- 
tion of the Church ; the other, born of a high, proud family, was 
shrewd, crafty, unscrupulous, ambitious of power, and devoted 
to Romish pomp and luxury. One claimed the abbey for the 
people, the other claimed the people for the abbej'. A band of 
the soldiers of Zurich was approaching, and Kilian seized upon 
the treasures of the convent, fleeing with them across the Rhine 
into Austria. Peace came, and the cunning monk threw off his 
priestly robes and put on the dress of a citizen. Creeping mys- 
teriously into Einsidlen, he suddenly raised a howl that ran 
through all the country. Zurich and Glaris replied by decreeing 
that a governor "confirmed in the evangelical faith" should pre- 
side over the district, with a council of twelve members, while 
the parishes should elect their own pastors. The abbot felt 
obliged to leave the country. Austria promised to help him, 
but on his return, while crossing a river near Bregentz, he fell 
from his horse and was drowned. Thus of the two Tockenbur- 
gers, Zwingli gained the victory through Providence. The con- 
vent was put up for sale and bought by the town of St. Gall, 
'* except (says Bullinger) a detached building called Hell, where 
the monks were left who had not embraced the Reform." 
Lucerne sent a governor to the place. "You must swear to up- 
hold our constitution," said the townsmen of St. Gall. "A 
governor has never been known," he replied, "to make oath to 
peasants; it is the peasants who should make oath to the gover- 
nor." Such was the old idea of things. He saw that the 



THE GOSPEL WEAPONS. 269 

people had free views, and he retired. The governor sent by 
Zurich, sound in the faith and in the new ideas, took the oath 
and remained. He swore to favour the word of God and protect 
it. The cloister was dissolved. The remaining jewels and orna- 
ments were applied to the wants of the poor. The wrath of the 
five cantons rose to the highest pitch. B}^ asking too much they 
had lost all, and had provoked the people into liberty. To Grod 
be the glory when wrath is turned to praise. Man's overstep 
gives God a footing. 

Far down in the beautiful regions of Lake Como and Lake 
Maggiore the name of Zwingli had reached a poor monk in his 
cell. Egidio a Porta had opposed the wishes of his family, 
entered an Augustine convent, struggled for years, but found no 
peace in his soul. He cried to God, and his prayer was to be 
answered in an unexpected way. The writings of Zwingli fell 
under his eye. He read and was startled. He saw the folly of 
a monkish life and of outward works. He felt that he had been 
a persecutor of the truth and of Christ. Trembling with emo- 
tion, he wrote to the Reformer, " If I cannot be a Paul in all 
things, be thou at least an Ananias to guide my erring footsteps 
upon the path of peace. Fourteen years ago I let myself be led 
by an ignorant zeal to forsake my parents and turn monk, think- 
ing thus to gain salvation by works. Thus I have taken much 
pains, not to he pious, and learned but to seem so ; and in this error, 
oh shame ! I held the office of preacher for seven years. My Chris- 
tian knowledge all failed me, and I attributed nothing to faith, 
but everything to works. Boldly did I teach my people to trust in 
these, and who can reckon up the amount of poisonous error that 
I have cast abroad in the field of the Lord ? Truly I have perse- 
cuted the Church of Christ. But in the goodness of the Lord 
he has willed that his servant perish not for ever ; he has shaken 

23* 



270 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

me thoroughly and cast me to the ground. The light of my eyes 
is darkened ; my lips are dumb till I lia-ve begun to cry hoarsely, 
'Lord, what shall I do?' A mes.-age comes to my heart: 'Go 
to Ulrich Zwingli ; he will teach thee what to do.' Oh glorious 
message I Thou — much more God, through thee — wilt deliver 
my soul from the snare of the hunters. ' ' 

'• Translate the New Testament into Italian," replied Zwin- 
gli; ** I will undertake to get it printed at Zurich." The monk 
began the work. But he was greatly hindered ; at one time he 
must beg for the convent, at another repeat his " hours of devo- 
tion," and then he must accompany one of the " fathers" on his 
journeys. Everything around him increased his distress. War 
was desolating his country; the forces of the emperor were 
marching toward Rome to sack the city ; men formerly rich were 
holding out their hands for alms ; crowds of women were driven 
to shameless degradation. He imagined that nothing but a great 
political deliverance would ever bring about the religious inde- 
pendence of his countrymen. As the great Protestant general 
Freundsberg ^ declared that he was marching on to destroy the 
pope, the monk supposed his happy hour was coming. He 
wrote again to Zwingli, begging him to stir up the powers to 
humble the wicked monks, to take their treasured wealth and 
give it to the dying, starving poor, and to open the way for 
preaching the pure word of God. '* The strength of Antichrist 
is near its fall," said he with delusive hope ; and added, ''I trust 
in God that this tree (meaning himself), planted so far from the 
refreshing streams, will in time bear fruit." 

Suddenly the letters stopped. The monk disappeared. No 



* Aonio Psvloario and his Friends, chapter ii. : Presbyterian Board of 
Puhlication. 



THE GOSPEL WEAPONS. 271 

more was heard of his translation of the New Testament. No 
doubt the ear of Kome heard him, and her arm threw him into 
some dark dungeon, or treated him with even worse and shorter 
cruelty. He was not the first nor the last pious Christian whom 
she has suddenly put out of all human sight. 

Zwingli did not rest with this, for he doubtless prompted a 
missionary movement in Northern Italy. James Werdmiller had 
been a zealous papist. He had kissed the pope's toe, and he 
knew what benefit that was by his own experience. When its 
blessing failed, he began to see his folly, and being won over to 
the gospel, he sat down at the Saviour's feet. He was a grave 
man, greatly respected. Zurich had the power to appoint a bai- 
liff at Locarno on Lake Maggiore. " Go thither," said Zurich, 
*'and bear yourself like a Christian." Werdmiller met with 
darkness intense, and nothing else, until he met a monk named 
Fontana in a convent. This man had been led to the Scrip- 
tures, and found what the monk of Como had sought. *' As 
long as I live," said he, " I will preach upon the epistles of St. 
Paul," for these had given him greatest light. Two other monks 
had also struggled up to the fountain of life. Werdmiller told 
them of the wonderful Reformation in his country. Fontana 
forwarded to Zwingli a letter addressed " to all the Church of 
Christ in German lands. ' ' 

''Remember Lazarus," he wrote, " the beggar in the gospel; 
remember the humble Canaanitish woman longing for the crumbs 
that fell from the Lord's table : hungry as David, I have recourse 
to the shew-bread placed on the altar. A poor traveller, de- 
voured by thirst, I rush to the springs of living water. Plunged 
in darkness, bathed in tears, we cry to you, who know the mys- 
teries of God, to send us by the hands of the munificent James 
Werdmiller all the writings of the divine Zwingli, the famous 



272 ULRICH ZVVINGLI. 

Luther, the skilful Melanchthon, the mild CEcolampadius, . . . 
the learned Lambert, the studious Leo, the vif^alant Hutten and 
of the other illustrious doctors, if there be any more. Make 
haste to deliver a city of Lombardy that has not yet known the 
gospel of Jesus Christ. We are but three, who have combined 
together to fight on behalf of the truth ; it was beneath the 
blows of a small body of men, chosen of God, and not by the 
thousands of Gideon, that Midian fell. Who knows if from a 
small spark God may not cause a great fire?" Thu^ three 
men on the banks of the Maggia hoped to reform Italy. They 
uttered a loud call, which has not been answered for three cen- 
turies by the Christian world. 

Thus Zurich dared to extend her helping hand to lift up Italy 
from the ditch of Rome. The five cantons were again in wrath. 
** What !" said they, " is it not enough that Zwingli and Zurich 
infest Switzerland? They have the impudence to carry their 
pretended reform into Italy — even into the country of the pope." 
They gave vent to loud and furious threats, swearing to arrest 
the progress of these gospel invasions. Another enemy ap- 
peared. James de Medicis, a political adventurer, had gained 
possession of the fortified castle of IMusso, on the northern shore 
of Lake Como. He threatened and harassed the inhabitants of 
the Gray League, a district of the Grisons, who had given a 
majority of votes for the Reform. His deeds of lawless vio- 
lence were approved and incited by Charles V., who bestowed 
ui)on tliis proud chatelain the title of margrave, and sent him 
nine hundred Spanish troojxs, ready at any hour to aid the five 
cantons. 

The Diet of Augsburg was opened in the summer of 1530, by 
the em|)cror, Charles V. Zwingli did not att-end, but he had 
sent thither a confession of faith. Jacob Sturm wrote to him, 



THE GOSPEL WEAPONS. 273 

saying, '^If the Lord himself does not pity us, and stand by in- 
nocence and truth, then will our mighty and raging foes yet de- 
vour us alive. No one defends us more than the landgrave 
[Philip of Hesee], and even he does not venture to do it publicly, 
but only in narrower circles. To us, ears and access are com- 
pletely closed. From an appeal in person, or from thy servants 
here, there is nothing to hope ; should circumstances take a more 
favourable turn, I will send you word. ' ' Philip had taken cour- 
age enough to lay before the emperor, Zwingli's confession of 
faith, in which he plainly declared that he must obey God rather 
than men. At such a time Zwingli turned his eyes to Francis I. , 
the bitter rival of Charles V. , hoping to win from France some 
sort of defensive aid. He entered into correspondence with the 
French general Maigret, who had some leaning toward the Re- 
form, and who held out hopes that Francis would enter into an 
alliance with the Swiss republics. Zwingli made his appeal, but 
no good came of it. Maigret was, perhaps, the only gainer by 
this contact with the Swiss Reformer, for he became in later 
years a staunch Huguenot.^ 

Zwingli was to have one more conference with his devoted 
friends. On a September day, 1530, there were gathered in 
his house the principal ministers of the Swiss Reformation, 
among whom were (Ecolampadius, Capito, Myconius and Leo 
Juda. They drew up an address to the confederates, to be pre - 
sented at the Diet at Baden, in which they said, "You are aware, 
gracious lords, that concord increases the power of States, and 
that discord overthrows them. You are yourselves a proof of 



•^ Of Zwingli's influence upon William Farel, and their correspondence 
in regard to beginning the good work at Geneva, we have treated in 
" William Farel and his Times." 



274 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

the first of these truths. Setting out from a small beginning, 
you have arrived at a great end by having a good understanding 
with each other. May God prevent you from giving a striking 
proof of the second! .... We conjure you to allow the word of 
God to be freely preached among you, as did your ancestors. 
Away then with all that separates you from our cities ! that is, the 
absence of the gospel. Then, placed in your mountains as in the 
centre of Christendom, you will be an example to it, as well as 
its protection and refuge." 

"The minister's sermon is rather long," said the deputies of 
the five cantons when they heard the appeal. They rejected it 
with contempt, calling for the pope and not the Reformer. 
There was no hope of a reconciliation between the two great 
parties in Switzerland. 

(Ecolampadius had difierent views from Zwingli in regard to 
the mode of pushing forward the conquest of the gospel. He 
believed that the energy of faith, the largeness of charity and 
the meekness of submission would have far more power than 
the halberd and the mu.«<ket. Let the Romanists persecute, im- 
prison, banish, confiscate and burn, but let there be no resistance 
with the sword. lie extolled the power of the divine word. If 
any man could have saved the Reformation in the cantons from 
the misfortunes that were impending, he was the man. "The 
liand of tlie magistrate wounds with the sword," said he, "but 
the hand <jf Christ heals. Clirist has not said, If thy brother 
oflfeiid tliee, tell it to the magistrates, hut tell it to the Church. 
The State and the Cliurcli must bo separate. The Church cannot 
work through the State." Zwingli, for a moment, approved of 
these views; but aflerward he departed IVom them, honestly 
thinking that the sword must defend the gospel, and the State 
advance the Church. 



THE GOSPEL WEAPONS. 275 

The storms of December did not prevent ZwingK from making 
a journey through the partly Reformed cantons to the westward. 
His presence inspired respect and confidence. Everywhere he 
found the majority of the people ready to fight for the gospel if 
the papists thrust war upon them. He organized or presided 
over synods in the Tockenburg, in Thurgau and St. Grail. Large 
crowds listened with enthusiam to his sermons. No man was so 
great in their estimation. At St. Gall he preached in the ca- 
thedral to an immense congregation of people, who remembered 
that "forty wagon-loads" of broken wooden images had lately 
been borne away from their town. The citizens were overjoyed 
at the sight and voice of the father of the Reformation in North- 
ern Switzerland. They gathered under his windows by night, 
and with songs and instruments testified their love and gratitude. 

The voice of Zwingli had changed. Always patriotic, he now 
became too political ; always bold in denouncing national sins 
and squaring everything by the word of God, he now preached a 
crusade against the papal cantons. He who had so faithfully la- 
boured for a Reform in the Church, now seemed to throw his 
whole strength toward a revolution in the confederacy. His one 
leading idea appeared to be that the government must be re- 
formed. Zurich had accepted the gospel, and therefore Zurich 
must rule. Berne and Basle would not come to his aid ; he 
thought the curse of Meroz must fall upon them, and if Zurich 
must stand alone, let her go forth single-handed to the battle. 
He thought that new times called for new measures. Let every 
officer who received a pension from foreign powers be displaced, 
and let a pious man be appointed in his stead. Thus he 
preached in Zurich. His burning words passed from the Church 
into the streets, into the halls of the guilds, into the councils, into 
the fields, and far into the cantons. War was imminent. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

THE LAND JiLOCKAJ>E. 
(1531.) 

SWIFT horsemen rode out of Zurich toward the end of 
April, 1531, as messengers of the council. They went to 
the cities which were allied to them against the enjcroachments of 
the five cantons. In delivering their messages they said, ''Take 
care ; great dangers are impending over us all. The emperor 
and King Ferdinand of Austria are making vast preparations ; 
they are about to invade Switzerland with large sums of money 
and great armies." 

There was danger. The five cantons had laid their plans and 
begun their work. It cannot be denied that they were the ag- 
gressors. They were enraged because of the peace of Cappel 
and the progress of the gospel. They did not confine themselves 
to threats, although the treaty of peace had required them to 
refrain from all abusive language, lest ''by insults and calum- 
nies discord should be again excited and greater troubles should 
arise." They were angrj^ at having signed such an agreement. 
Their rude tongues could not be restrained. Two Zurichers, 
who had crept into their Diet, being in wrath because one had 
lost his pension and the other his convent, said all they could to 
rouse the papists against their native canton. It was declared 
in the wilder valleys that the people of Zurich were heretics, 

worthy of death — that there was not one of them who did not 
276 



THE LA.ND BLOCKADE. 277 

commit sins against nature, and who was not a robber at the 
very least — that Zwingli was a thief, murderer and an arch- 
heretic — that Leo Juda was but the pander of Zwingli in horri- 
ble crimes — and that it was the duty of the five cantons to sweep 
them all from the earth. ' ' I shall have no rest, ' ' said a pen- 
sioner, *' until I have thrust my sword up to the hilt in the body 
of this impious wretch !" The people of the five cantons perse- 
cuted the poor Christians among them, fined them, put them into 
dungeons, tormented them and mercilessly expelled them from 
the country. The people of Schwytz grew bold and appeared at 
an assembly, wearing in their hats pine branches, the sign of war. 
No one checked them. Secret meetings were held, new alliances 
were sought with the pope, the emperor and the king of Aus- 
tria. " Birds of a feather fly together,'' they said, and they en- 
tered into a union against the Reformed cantons. 

The people of Yalais, speaking their French, at first refused 
to enter into the papal alliance. They preferred neutrality. But 
on a sudden they thought they were summoned by a miraculous 
call. A sheet of paper was found upon an altar — or such was 
the report in their valleys. It contained the sentence that the 
Reformers of Zurich and Berne preached that a sin against na- 
ture was a less crime than to hear mass. Who had placed the 
mysterious paper on the altar if it had not fallen from heaven ? 
It was copied, circulated and read everywhere. The Valaisans 
believed it to be a message from the protecting saints. They 
granted the support that was asked. Villainy has often played 
such a part in politics. The cantons were gathering, the clang 
of arms was heard, the winds bore terrible threats over the 
mountains to Zurich. 

*'Let us not abandon ourselves," said Zwingli, *'and all will 

go well. " At a meeting held in May at Aran, he prepared a 
2'4 



278 ULRicH zwi>;gli. 

new constitution for the confederacy. It did not meet with 
approval. Berne was opposed to the employment of arms. 
''There is no doubt,'' said her deputies, "that the behaviour of 
the five cantons with regard to the divine word fully authorizes 
an armed intervention ; but the perils that threaten us on the 
side of Italy and the empire — the danger of arousing the lion 
from his slumber — the general want^ and misery that afflict our 
people — the rich harvests that will soon cover our fields and which 
war would destroy — the great number of pious men in the five 
cantons whose innocent blood would flow with that of the 
guilty, — all these motives enjoin us to leave the sword in the 
scabbard. ' ' 

Zurich replied, "We sacrifice the advantages we now possess 
if we refrain from war when forced upon us, and we give the 
five cantons time to arm themselves and fall upon us first. 
Beware lest the emperor attack us on one side, while the papal 
confederates attack us on the other ; a just war is not in opposi- 
tion to the word of God, but to refuse to defend the oppressed 
poor, whom the five cantons are torturing, is contrary to it. Let 
us beware that we do not cause these poor friends and brothers 
to become our enemies. ' ' Yet Berne would not begin the war. 

A new measure was proposed. It will be remembered that the 
five cantons had once tried to cut off" all supplies from the Ke- 
formed cantons. Berne now insisted that the tables be turned, 
and the Reformed cities close their markets against the five can- 
tons, permitting them to receive neither corn nor wine, salt, 
iron nor steel, until they should allow the gospel to be preached- 
and read aniont^ thoni without persecution. It was argued tliat 



* A rainino hjul prcvaiKHl at Zurich short ly before, and Strasburg liad 
aeni thither supplitis of curn. 



THE LAND BLOCKADE. 279 

this measure would rouse the people against the pensioners, who 
were at the bottom of almost all the troubles. The Zurichers 
were at first strongly opposed to this measure, Zwingli argued 
that this was too slow a course. It would give the papists too 
much time to arm themselves, and it would only madden the 
enem3^ He was in favour of a speedier mode of war. The 
Zurichers finally agreed to lay the embargo. The ancient record 
is that Zurich at last submitted, "reluctantly and sadly, only for 
the honour and pleasure of the allies." 

On the next Sunday, according to an old custom, the resolution 
must be read in the churches. Zwingli entered the pulpit. An 
immense audience, greatly excited, was waiting to hear him. 
His soul was overburdened, his eye cast down. If then he had 
bowed in humiliation before God, confessed the sins of the 
whole people, and prayed, with patriotic heart, for his beloved 
Switzerland, who knows but that he, and his country, and the 
Reformation might have escaped the calamities that were pre- 
paring for them? Yet he saw not with the tearful eye of faith, 
but with the sad eye of force. He imagined that delay would 
ruin Zurich. After closing the book of the Prince of Peace, 
he took up the resolution, read it, and said : "Men of Zurich! 
You deny food to the five cantons, as to evil-doers; very well! 
let the blow follow the threat, rather than reduce poor innocent 
creatures to starvation. If, by not taking the offensive, you ap- 
pear to believe that there is not sufficient reason for punishing 
the Waldstettes, while yet refusing them food, you will force 
them, by this line of conduct, to take up arms, to raise their 
hands, and to inflict punishment upon you. This is the fate 
that awaits you." In a military point of view this was the wiser 
policy. 

The whole assembly was deeply moved. It was Whitsunday, 



280 ULRICII ZWINGLI. 

and on the very day when they were celebrating the outpouring 
of the Holy Spirit, the minister of God was uttering a provoca- 
tion to war! "It is a seditious discourse," said some of them. 
''It is an incitement to bloodshed.'' Others replied, "No! it 
it is the language which the safety of the State requires." . All 
the city was in agitation. "Zurich has too much fire," .^aid 
Berne. "Berne has too much cunning," retorted Zurich. The 
gloomy prophecy of the Reformer was soon to be fulfilled. 

One loud wail rose up from the inner districts. The markets 
of Zurich, Berne, St. Gall, the Tockenburg and Thurgau were 
closed against the five cantons. They seemed to be suddenly in 
a vast desert, amid famine, pestilence and death. It was hoped 
that certain free towns would send them assistance, but even such 
places as Bremgarten and Wesen refused. Several wagons of 
provisions were crossing the borders ; they were stopped, un- 
loaded, upset and turned into barricades for soldiers. " Already 
a year of death had made provisions scarce in the five cantons ; 
already had a frightful epidemic, the Sweating Sickness, scat- 
tered everywhere despondency and death ; but now the hand of 
man was joined to the hand of God ; the evil increased and the 
poor inhabitants of these mountains beheld unheard-of calami- 
ties approach with hasty steps. No more bread for their chil- 
dren — no more wine to revive their exhausted strength — no more 
salt for their fiocks and herds ! Everything fiiiled them that 
man requires for sustenance." People of neighbouring coun- 
tries were moved with compassion. They concealed provisions 
in bales of goods which were allowed to cross the line, and the 
Bernese officers were often deceived to the advantage of the 
needy. Zurich was more watcliful and severe, seizing the con- 
traband articles and sending them back whence they came. 

The dwellers in the five cantons sought relief from saints, 



THE LAND BLOCKADE. 281 

shrines and papal rites. All sports, dances and amusements were 
forbidden. Long processions covered the roads to Einsidlen and 
other resorts of pilgrims. They assumed the belt, the staff and 
arms of their various brotherhoods, carried chaplets, repeated 
their Paternosters and sang their plaintive hymns among the 
mountains. They did more ; they sharpened their halberds, 
burnished their swords, brandished their weapons toward Berne 
and Zurich, and said with rage, "They block up our roads, but 
we will open them with our right arms." Vain was the effort to 
introduce the bread of life among them by starvation. "If 
thine enemy hunger, feed him,'"' was the command in the gospel 
of mercj^ Certain French ambassadors went to them, saying, 
"If war invade Switzerland, all the society of the Helvetians 
will be destroyed ; whichever party is the conqueror, he will be 
as much ruined as the other. ' ' They assured the Waldstettes 
that if they would allow the word of God to be freely preached, 
Zurich would at once raise the blockade. The reply was, "We 
will never permit the preaching of the Word, as the people of 
Zurich understand it." Thus ended other attempts at securing 
peace. 

Zwingli now found himself in trouble. It is not surprising 
that the man who had been for eleven years at the head of the 
Church in Zurich should have fallen in the general esteem 
when he put himself at the head of the State. He was even 
represented as the author of the measure which he had opposed 
with all his might. The angry populace in the city charged him 
with being the sole cause of the civil war, and reproached him 
as a leveller, a destroj^er of the ancient rights, a tyrant like Gess- 
ler. The wealthy were told that he courted the poor in order 
to gain popular power ; the peasants ysrere made to believe that 
this one man brought scarcity into their cabins and danger to 
24 ^ 



282 ULRICII ZWlNGLr. 

their property. In the council mistrust and dissension in- 
creased. By his advice the number of nobles was diminished 
in the two councils, because of their opposition to the gospel ; 
this gave offence to the more honourable families of the city and 
canton. Corn grew scarcer in Zurich ; the millers and the 
bakers were laid under certain rules, and the people blamed the 
Reformer for these evils. A11 who hated the gospel joined with 
the monks and mercenaries, and the malcontents of every class 
were arrayed against the minister of peace who was preaching 
an aggressive war. One loud voice was raised against him. 

Zwingli was heart-broken, for he saw that the pilot would not 
be able to save the ship in such a heaving sea. Not yet did he 
perceive that the Reformer had a different work to perform from 
the statesman. "Religious and political matters were united in 
the mind of this great man by such old and dear ties that it was 
impossible for him to distinguish their line of separation. The 
confusion had become his dominant idea ; the Christian and the 
citizen were for him one and the same character; and hence it re- 
sulted that all the resources of the State — even cannons and 
arquebuses — were to be placed at the service of truth. When one 
peculiar idea thus seizes upon a man, we see a false conscience 
formed within him, which approves of man}'^ things condemned 
by the word of the Lord."^' Tt had been far better for the cause 
that lay nearest his heart if he had preached fliith, repentance 
and peace with all the energy and eloquence of his former 
years. 

What could he do? A feeling of his forsaken condition took 



* D'Aiibigne. TJie Ptronger apologists of Zwingli, such as Hottinger 
and ChristoflTol, <\o not jittcnipt to justify the Reformer in his political 
measures, 



THE LAND BLOCKADE. 283 

hold upon him. On the 26th of July he went before the council, 
in which intrigue and disunion reigned, and with deep emotion 
he said, "For eleven years I have been preaching the gospel 
among you, and I have faithfully warned you, as a father, of the 
dangers that would threaten the confederacy if the five cantons — 
that is, the crew of the pensioners — should get the upper hand. 
No attention has been paid to my words. The mercenaries and 
the foes of the gospel are elected to the council. You refuse to 
follow my advice, and yet you hold me responsible for all the mis- 
chief and misfortune. I therefore ask for my dismissal, and 
will look for some other means of supporting myself." The Ke- 
former left the room bathed in tears. 

The council heard his words with a shudder, for they began to 
see how they leaned upon the very man whom many of them 
had blamed. Their old feelings of respect and confidence were 
revived. They knew, as all the world must know, that he was 
honest in his views, patriotic in his intentions, and devoted to the 
gospel with his mighty heart. To lose him was to ruin Zurich. 
The two burgomasters were sent to persuade him from his fatal 
resolution. He asked for three days to consider it. For three 
days and three nights he sought what road to follow. Ought 
he to give up all for which he had so long struggled, simply to 
save himself? Where could he go? If among friends, they 
would reproach him ; if among foes, they would destroy him. 
He groaned in prayer to Grod. He saw his country and the 
Church on the point of being beaten down by their enemies, 
'Mike corn by the hailstorm." Pie would rise toward ofi" the 
blow and send it back upon the foe. On the third day he ap- 
peared again in the council, heard their promise of amendment, 
and said: "I will stay with you and labour for the public safety 
until death.'' Again he was upon his feet; the council rallied 



284 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 



Hi 



to his supi)ort ; all Zurich summoned up her energies. Peace 
seemed to reign at headquarters. 

Very secretly he set out for Bremgarten, arrived there by night, 
and lodged in the old parsonage of Henry Bullinger. He sent 
for the deputies of Berne to meet him there with the greatest 
secrecy, praying them, in the most solemn terms, to consider the 
dangers that threatened the Reform. They came. '*I fear,'* 
said he, "that because of our unbelief this business will not 
succeed. By refusing supplies to the five cantons we have be- 
gun a work that will be fatal to us. What is to be done? If we 
withdraw the prohibition, they will become more insolent and 
•haughty than ever. Enforce it? They will take the offensive, 
and if they succeed, you will behold our fields red with the blood 
of believers, the truth trampled down, the Church of Christ laid 
waste, all social relations overthrown, our adversaries more 
hardened and irritated against the gospel, and crowds of priests 
and monks again filling our rural districts, streets and temples. 
.... And yet." he added after a silence of deep emotion, " that 
also will have an end. ' ' 

The Bernese were agitated by the solemn voice of the Re- 
former. " We see," they said, "all that is to be feared for our 
common cause, and we will employ every care to prevent such 
gn;at disasters."^ All were agreed that the blockade must not 
be raised unless the five cantons would first yield. But how to 
enforce it and still prevent actual bloodshed was the doubtful 
question. "Bernese promised to do their best," says Bullinger. 
During the hours of this conference three of the town coun- 
cillors were stationed as sentinels in front of the parsonage. It 



* Hnllingcr ; who says, " I who write these things was present and heard 
thorn." 



THE LAND BLOCKADE. 285 

was feared that some of the sympathizers with the papal can- 
tons would hear of Zwingli's presence and attack the house. 
Before daybreak the Reformer ordered his horse. Bullinger and 
and a few other friends passed with him through the gates. 
Three different times Zwingli gave the farewell to the young 
pastor, once his pupil, and soon to be his successor. He had a 
presentiment of approaching death. He could scarcely tear him- 
self away from his friend, whom he was never to see on earth 
again. He blessed him with dropping tears, as he said, ' ' Oh, my 
dear Henry, may Grod protect you! Be faithful to our Lord 
Jesus Christ and to his Church. ' ' They parted. But at that 
very moment the sentinels at the gate shrank back in terror. 
They declared that they saw a mysterious personage, clad in a 
robe as white as snow, flitting past and plunging into the water 
out of sight. Bullinger tells us that he did not see it, nor did 
the other friends; he "sought for it all around, but to no pur- 
pose. ' ' He returned to his house, and could not help but asso- 
ciate the white spectre with Zwingli. Strange stories were told 
of visions and omens of blood in other quarters during the days 
of coming woe. 

The people of Zurich wished the great Reformer with thcni, 
but yet would not follow his advice. His former influence was 
not regained. The very men who had demanded war were slow 
to urge it forward, and were giving all the advantage of time to 
the enemy. From his pulpit he said, ''I see that the most 
faithful warnings cannot save you. You will not punish the pen- 
sioners of foreign princes. ... A chain is prepared, it unrolls 
link after link — soon they will bind me to it, and more than one 
pious Zuricher with me. It is against me they are enraged. I 
am ready. I submit to the Lord's will. . . . As for thee, 
Zurich, they will give thee thy reward; thou wilt not punish 



286 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

them; they will punish thee. A hedge of thorns will bristle 
about thy head. But God will not the less preserve his word. ' ' 

(3 lie night in August, Zwingli was in the church-yard, amid 
the tombs, with his friend George Miller, formerly the abbot of 
Wettingen, a convent that had been reformed. They were gaz- 
ing at a frightful comet, whose long train of pale yellow turned 
toward the south. It was the famous comet of 1456 and 1531. 
It cicated a terror through all the land. The learned men of 
that day were not free from superstitious notions in regard to 
such appearances. *' What may that star signify?" inquired the 
abbot. ''It will light me," replied ZwingH, ''and many an 
honest man in this confederacy, to our graves." "With God's 
grace, no!" said Miller. "God will not let such an event 
happen." "He will," was the reply; "he will for a confirma- 
tion of his truth. But if the rod begin at the house of God, 
then woe to the enemies of the gospel. Yet God will maintain 
his cause, although it is now so low that it seems to be in ruins. 
I trust the cause itself; it is right and good; but I trust the 
people as little as I can. Our only comfort is in God. The 
truth and the Church will mourn, but Christ will never forsake 
us." About the same time Vadian of St. Gall was on a hill, 
one starry night, explaining to his friends and disciples the plan- 
ets and the miracles of the great Creator, when he was amazed 
at the appearance of this comet. It seemed to declare the anger 
of Jehovah. The celebrated Theophrastus said that this comet 
foreboded not only great bloodshed, but most especially the 
death of learned and illustrious men.^ It is not strange that the 



♦ It was held by John Bodin, ono of the most learned Frenchmen of the 
flixtccnth century, that comets were spirits that had lived innumerable 
ages on the earth, and at last coming near to death, celebrated their triumph 



THE LAND BLOCKADE. 287 

Swiss, in their distressful condition, took still greater alarm from 
such appearances. 

Amid all this agitation Zwingli alone seemed calm and self-pos- 
sessed. He had his presentiments, but he knew where were his 
refuge and repose. ''A heart that fears God," said he, "cares 
not for the threats of the world. To forward the designs of God 
is his task. A carrier who has a long road to go must make 
up his mind to wear his wagon and his gear during the journey. 
If he carry his merchandise to the appointed spot, that is enough 
for him. We are the wagon and the gear of God. There is not 
one of the parts that is not worn, twisted, broken; but our great 
driver will none the less accomplish his vast designs by our 
means. Is it not to those who fall upon the field of battle that 
the noblest crown belongs? Take courage, then, amid all these 
dangers, through which the cause of Jesus Christ must pass. 
Others will enjoy on earth the fruits of our labours, while 
we, in heaven, shall reap our eternal reward." Thus wrote 
Zwingli in his commmentarjT- on Jeremiah, a work composed the 
very year of his death. His trials brought him into sympathy 
with that patriotic prophet, who preached and wept, wept and 
preached again. 

The Romanists were doing something else than gazing at 
comets and reading omens of terror. The five cantons held a 
Diet at Lucerne, and resolved to raise the blockade by the force 
of arms. The papal nuncio announced that the troops of the 
pope were marching upon Switzerland. All at once alarming 



or were again brought into the firmament as shining stars. Their victory 
was attended with awful calamities upon cities and countries, whose 
rulers were taken away to appease the wrath of God. If learned scholars 
held such views, what would not the people entertain ? See Bayle. 



288 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

news ceased. The constant threat and rumour of war were not 
heard at Zurich. It was the calm before the storm ; the silence 
in which the enemy laid their plans for a mysterious attack. All 
the passes between Zurich and the five cantons were closed, so 
that no spies might enter. 

The friends along on the banks of the lakes Lucerne and Zug, 
who had promised to give the note of warning to Zurich, were 
shut up, like prisoners, in their mountains. All was so silent that 
the council revoked the order to call out the militia. It seemed 
as if there was treason at work among them, so blinded were 
they to the alarming facts. Brave old Rudolph Lavater of 
Kyburg had been called to command an army, but now the 
army was dispersed. One order was constantly off-setting 
another. Troops who were summoned were met on the way 
and sent home. Lavater, in discontent and disgust, retired to 
Kj^burg, and flung away the sword which he had been com- 
manded to sheathe. Zurich was deceived by the crafty men of 
the Waldstettes. The terrific avalanche was to slip down the 
icy mountains, and go crashing onward to the very gates of the 
city, without the least forewarning of its fall. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

JPEMISHING WITM TSJE SWOMD. 

(1531.) 

A LITTLE boy was to send one alarm to sleeping Zurich. 
He knew not what he was doing when his father sent 
him, from his home in Zug, on an errand just over the border. 
It was the fourth of October when he came to the monastery 
of Cappel in the canton of Zurich. He gave to the abbot Joner 
two loaves of bread, without saying a word. A councillor was 
present. The two Zurichers turned pale at the sight. They 
had an understanding with some good Zuger, to whom they had 
said, " If the five cantons intend marching upon the free baili- 
wicks, you will send your son with one loaf; but give him two 
loaves if they are marching upon Zurich.'' The two loaves were 
a fearful despatch. The abbot and the councillor Peyer wrote 
with all speed to Zurich, giving notice of their alarm. But no 
credit was at first attached to this report. Even Zwingli did not 
believe it. He thought it a "French manoeuvre." He was 
much deceived. Four days more and Zurich would be almost 
ruined. 

On Sunday, the eighth, a messenger appeared at the gates 
and demanded, in the name of the five cantons, letters of per- 
petual alliance. ** A mere trick," said the majority. Zwingli 
was in the pulpit : it was his last time, and as if he saw some 

power requiring of him to deny his faith, he exclaimed, "No, 
25 28S> 



290 ULRicii zvnxGi.r. 

no! never will I deny my Kecleenier." At the same time a mes- 
senger arrived in haste from Mulinen, a commander of the Jo- 
hanites, saying, "On last Friday the people of Lucerne planted 
their banner in the great square. Two men, whom I sent to 
Lucerne, have been thrown into prison. To-morrow morning 
the army of the five cantons will enter the free bailiwicks. 
Already the country-people are running to us in crowds. ' ' 

"It is an idle story," said the councils. Nevertheless they 
recalled the commander-in-chief, Lavater, who sent a trusty man 
with some troops to reconnoitre at Cappel. The five cantons 
published the manifestoes. They set forth their grievances, 
charging the Reformers with all the discords sown in the confed- 
eracy, just as persecutors accused the apostles of "turning the 
world upside down." x\bsalom would have said the same of 
David. "It is not true," said they, "that we oppose the 
preaching of the truth and the reading of the Bible. As obe- 
dient children of the Church, we receive all that our holy 
mother receives. But we reject the books and the innovations 
of Zwingli and his companions." 

In the evening of Monday the papal army entered the free 
bailiwicks. The soldiers went into a church, missed the images, 
saw the altars broken and were enraged. Then scattering through 
the country, they pillaged wherever they could find any one to 
rob. They were particularly enraged against pastors ; they en- 
tered their houses, destroyed the furniture and heaped curses 
upon the indwellers. The main army was marching to Zug, and 
thence to Cappel. 

The abhot of tlio convent, Woifi^ang Joner, had hoard the 
night before of the intondod invasion. TTe was a just and pious 
man, learned and eloquent, full of conipa.ssion toward the poor, 
and honoured throughout the whole country. Often had he 



PERISHING WITH THE SWORD. 291 

crossed the border, gone into the canton of Zug and fed the per- 
ishing. Now the Zugers were marching upon him with ven- 
geance toward a convent that he had reformed. He paced his 
cell, he could not sleep ; he took his pen and wrote to a friend, 
"The time has come. The scourge of God appears." This 
warning was sent to slumbering Zurich. In the mean time other 
bearers of alarming tidings reached the city. It was time that 
"the bandage should fall from the eyes of the Zurichers," but 
the delusion was to endure to the end. A few of the councillors 
met, and said, "The five cantons are only making a little noise 
to frighten us into raising the blockade. ' ' Other trusty messen- 
gers confirmed the sad reports, and the aged banneret, John 
Schweitzer, raised his feeble head, saying, "At this very mo- 
ment send an advance guard to Cappel, and let the army follow 
at once. ' ^ But still the council did nothing. Were its mem- 
bers bribed into silent treason? One traitor strikes, another 
prepares the way for the blow. A pastor near Cappel hasted 
to Zurich, told how the poor people were crowding about the 
convent, and loudly calling for men to defend them and the coun- 
try ; the pastor spoke with warmth, for he had witnessed mourn- 
ful scenes, but the councillors turned in their arm-chairs and 
wanted to be cautious and prudent. A new courier appeared ; it 
was Schwytzer, landlord of the "Beech Tree" on Mount Albis. 
He told how the five cantons had seized upon the town of Hitz- 
kirk, and were gathering more troops at Baar. Now the council 
woke up pale and terrified. The war was actually begun. The 
papal cantons had struck the first blow. Yet the councillors 
were at variance, making long speeches and wasting time in dis- 
cussing whether the bells should be rung to call forth men for the 
army. Six hundred men were sent to Cappel, but the command 
was given to George Goldli, who had a brother in the army of 



292 ULRICII ZWINGLI. 

the five cantons. Treason, doubtless, caused all this apparent 
stupidity. 

A fearful night fell upon the city. The thick darkness, the 
violent storm, the alami-bell ringing from every steeple, the peo- 
ple running to arms, the clangour of weapons, trumpets and 
drums, the cries of women and children, and an earthquake as 
if nature herself was shuddering at the horrors of the morrow, 
all added to the excitement of the fatal night, which weuld be 
followed by a still more fatal day. Two hours after midnight 
troops of men were sent far to the right and left of Cappel, as if 
it was intended that they should not be in the way of the enemy. 
The better members of the council now were so alarmed that 
they thought of the ''Christian Co-burgher Right,'* and re- 
solved to appeal to the cities allied to Zurich. ''As this revolt 
has no other origin than hatred of the word of God, we entreat 
you once — twice — thrice, as seriously, as loudly, as earnestly, as 
our ancient alliances and our co-burghery will permit us to do, 
that you set forth without delay. Haste ! haste ! haste ! The 
danger is yours as well as ours." Such was the appeal, but it 
was already too late. 

While this fearful night was coming on, the Zurichers en- 
camped at Cappel, to the number of about one thousand, looked 
down from the heights ui)on Zug and its little lake. Suddenly 
they saw a few boats on the other side filling with men. The 
number increased, and soon the horn of Uri was heard, the ban- 
ner was seen, the fierce warriors were landing and leaping upon 
the shore. There they were received with shouts and hospitality 
by tlie Zugers. On the morrow they would be invading Zurich, 
and she was not prepared for resistance. 

At break of day on the 12th the banner of Zurich was 
raised before the town-house, but instead of flaunting proudly 



PERISHING WITH THE SWORD. 293 

in the wind, it bung drooping upon the staff; a sad omen to 
many minds. General Lavater waited under it for soldiers ; few 
rallied to the standard. At ten o'clock there were but seven 
hundred men under arms. Many of these were old men with 
more courage than strength, a few councillors who were devoted 
to the word of God, several ministers who were resolved to live 
or die with the Reform, the most patriotic of the citizens and 
many peasants from the neighbourhood. Without uniforms, with- 
out order and without efficient arms, these few men were impa- 
tient to be on the move. Four thousand had been expected, but 
there was not the least prospect that the tocsin had roused them 
from their homes. The oath was not administered to the seven 
hundred already gathered ; they could not wait for the command 
of their chiefs ; two hundred of them rushed through the gates 
to the field of strife. It was reported that Goldli had already 
engaged the enemy on the other ^ide of Mount Albis. 

A saddled horse was stamping in front of Zwingli's house; his 
master was within doors preparing to go with the soldiers as field- 
preacher, at the request of the council. His heart was broken, 
for Zurich was under the power of the pensioners and traitors. 
He knew that the five cantons had made long and thorough 
preparation, while Zurich was stupefied by the policy of the 
mercenaries. Yet he was calm as a Christian who places all con- 
fidence in God. If the Reform must perish, he was ready to per- 
ish with it. Surrounded by his weeping wife, children and 
friends who clung to his garments to detain him, he quitted the 
house in which he had passed so many days of happiness. He 
laid his hand upon his horse ; the noble steed seemed to give a>n 
omen of the fatal day by starting back violently several paces ; 
when the rider was in the saddle the horse refused to advance ; 
rearing and prancing backward, he caused many in Zurich to 



294 ur.Kicii zwiNGLi. 

regard it as ominous. Zwingli gave him the spur, tlie horse 
sprang forward, and the Reformer disappeared for ever from the 
streets of the city. Oswald Myconius was there, remaining in 
tears among the weeping. He could scarcely stand upright ; a 
sword was piercing his soul. In all quarters were lamentations ; 
every house seemed to be turned into a house of prayer. Amid 
this general sorrow one woman was silent ; God only heard her 
heart break and knew how mild was her eye of faith. This was 
Anna Zwingli. She had seen her husband depart; her son 
Gerold, her brother and other relatives had gone to the field of 
death. 

Zwingli rode on with the undrilled, distracted multitude. 
Sometimes he turned aside or fell back for a little while ; one 
friend relates that he heard him praying with great fervency, 
committing himself, and especially the Church, to the Lord. 
"For a year past the gayety of the Reformer had entirely disap- 
peared. He was grave, melancholy, easily moved, having a 
weight on his heart that seemed to crush it. Often would he 
throw himself at the feet of his Master and seek in pra3^er the 
strength that he needed. No one had ever observed in him any 
ii'ritation ; he had received with mildness the counsels that had 
been offered, and had remained tenderly attached to the n)cn 
whose convictions were not the same as his own.". . . . When on 
the way to Cappel, ''if any one spoke to him, he was found firm 
in faith: he did not conceal the presentiment that he should 
never see his family or church again. ' ' Thus advanced the forces 
of Zurich. It was rather the march of a funeral procession than 
of an army, except that all was disorder and confusion. Along 
every one of the ten or twelve miles came messengers urging 
them to hasten to the defence of their brotliers. The army of 
the five cantons had fired their first gun ; tho ball had passed 



PERISHING WITH THE SWORD. 295 

over the convent of Ca{)pel ; the twelve hundred Zurichers had 
fallen upon their knees and prayed to Grod for victory. 

The reinforcements, with which Zwingli was riding, first heard 
the roar of cannon as they began to ascend Mount Albis. They 
were about half-way to Cappel. The road was steep and diffi- 
cult. But the blood leaped afresh through their veins and they 
pushed on, overburdened with armour, dragging the artillery, 
panting, fainting, leaning against the trees for a moment to rest, 
and appearing to be stragglers rather than soldiers. At the 
famous ' ' Beech Tree' ' on the top of the mountain, they halted, 
sat down and deliberated. 

''Hasten forward!" was the shout of a courier from Cappel. 
Many of the Zurichers sprang to their feet.- 

" My good friends," said Captain Toning, "what can we do 
against such great forces? Let us wait here until our numbers 
increase, and then let us fall upon the enemy with our whole 
army. ' ' 

"Yes, if we had an army," bitterly replied General Lavater, 
who, in despair of saving the republic, thought only of dying with 
glory. "We have only a banner, and no soldiers." 

The voice of Zwingli was then heard: "How can we stay 
calmly on these heights while we hear the shots that are fired 
at our fellow-citizens ? In the name of Grod, I will march to- 
ward my brother-warriors, prepared to die in order to save 
them." 

" And I too," added the aged banneret, Schweitzer, who cast 
a withering look at Toning and said, "As for you, delay here 
till you are a little recovered." 

" I am quite as much refreshed as you are," replied the cap- 
tain, the blood reddening in his face. "YouVill soon see 
whether I cannot fight." All hastened to the fra3^ They 



296 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

plunged into the woods, and a few men bore the banner of Zu- 
rich in sight of the enemy. 

Just then there was a pause in the battle. Goldli had stoutly 
held his ground, although he was accused of failing in some 
movements that might have thrown greater terror into the ranks 
of the foe. The chiefs of the five cantons had stopped to hold a 
council. Tliey had seen the banner of Zurich coming down the 
mountain. They supposed that a greater force was on the way. 
It was now four o'clock. They were looking for a place to camp 
and pass the night. They were waiting to see if Zurich would 
send any request for peace. If at this moment any mediators 
had appeared, their proposals would have been accepted, unless 
Bullinger was mistaken. But none appeared. Neither Zwingli 
nor any man of Zurich dreamed of this state of affairs. On 
what mistakes and ignorance of men the fates of nations 
hang ! 

A skilful marksman of Uri, a brave warrior and an acute 
strategist, named John Jauch, destroyed all hope of peace with- 
out war. He pointed out to the chiefs of the five cantons a 
piece of woods, into which he proposed to lead a few volunteers 
and attack the army of the Protestants. * ' I know the Zu- 
richers w^cll," said Caspar Goldli, brother of George : " if you 
don't beat them to day, they will beat you to morrow. Take 
your choice." 

" It is too late," said some, who did not find it quite to their 
conscience to wage war on a holyday, *' and it was never tlie cus- 
tom of our ancestors to shed blood on Childermas-dny.^ Re- 
member the festival of the Innocents." 



* The day kejtt in memory of the slaughter of the children of Bethle- 
hem, and hence also called Innocent's-day. 



PERISHING AYITH THE SWORD. 297 

*' Don't talk about the Innocents of the calendar," replied 
Jauch, "but let us rather remember the innocents that we have 
left in our cottages. ' ' Yet the chiefs were disposed to take their 
quarters for the night. The warrior of Uri then drew his sword 
and cried out, "Let all true confederates follow me." Leaping 
hastily into his saddle, he spurred his horse into the forest, lead- 
ing about three hundred men, confident of victory. There he 
dismounted and fell down upon his knees, "for he was a man 
who feared God," says the chronicler. All his followers imi- 
tated him, and together they invoked the aid of the "Holy 
Mother," the saints, the angels and of God whose Word they 
fought against. They then posted themselves behind trees, as 
sharp-shooters, to give the first notice of their presence to the 
Zurichers by the whistle of three hundred deadly balls. 

How blind are men appointed to a calamitous death ! The 
army of the Protestants had been deceived by the pause in the 
battle. No sentinels, no pickets, no scouts were on watchful 
duty. Zwingli was pained at their solemn trifling. One of 
them who was ill-disposed toward the Reformer, said harshly, 
" Well, Master Ulrich, what say you about this business? Are 
the radishes salt enough ? Who will eat them ?" 

"T will," replied the chaplain, "and many a brave man now 
here in the hands of God." 

"And I too," rejoined the man, ashamed of his untimely 
jest. " I will help eat them. I will risk my life for the cause." 
He did so, says the chronicler, and many others with him. He 
fell a victim. 

All at once the scream of three hundred bullets was heard from 
the woods, and it was speedily followed by the wail of dying men. 
The living Zurichers fell on the ground and let the balls pass 
over their heads ; but this was not to be long endured. Spring- 



298 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

ing to their feet, tliey exclaimed, " Shall we allow ourselves to be 
butchered? Nay ! Let us attack the enemy." 

'' Soldiers," cried Lavater, seizing a lance and rushing forward, 
" uphold the honour of God and of our lords, and act as brave 
men." There stood Zwingli, silent and collected, with halberd 
in liand. He was asked to speak and encourage the soldiers. 

' ' Warriors, fear nothing, ' ' said the Reformer. ' ' If we are 
this day to be defeated, our cause is still good. If we suffer, it is 
for God's sake. Cheer up, my noble comrades. Commend your- 
selves to God." The enemy was all in motion. Jauch had in- 
cited the whole army of the five cantons to the battle. In vain 
did the Zurichers attempt to repel them. Brave men fell while 
performing brilliant deeds of valour. The noblest blood of the 
republic was staining the soil. All seemed to depend on Captain 
Toning, for Goldli had taken to flight in so disgraceful a manner 
that he could never again live in Zurich. Lavat<3r fought val- 
iantly, fell into the ditch, was dragged out by a soldier and es- 
caped. Captain Toning died for his country as he had foretold. 
Seven members of one council, and nineteen of the other, lay 
dead on the field. 

Gerold Meyer, twenty-two years of age, a husband and a 
fiither, rushed into the foremost rank, and was met by a foe 
with the words, ^'Surrender, and your life will be spared." 
** Never!" said the son of Anna Reinhard. *'It is better for 
me to die with honour than to yield with disgrace." He fell and 
expired not far from the castle of his ancestors. 

History docs not record a battle in which so many ministers of 
the word were smitten to the dust of death. The pastors had 
niarched at the head of their flocks. Twenty-flve of them ])cr- 
ishcd. The abbot Joner expired in sight of his convent, and 
the Zugcrs almost shed a tear as they rushed over his body, re- 



PERISHING WITH THE SWORD. 299 

membering the good deeds to the poor that he had done among 
them. The eloquent preacher Smith, following by his parishion- 
ers, breathed his last, surrounded by forty of his dying men. 
The aged Greroldsek had marched bravely forth from his adopted 
Zurich and bathed his gray hairs in blood. Thus fell the 
preachers of the Reform. 

Near to a pear tree, in a meadow, Zwingli stood at the post of 
danger, the helmet on his head, the sword at his side, the battle- 
axe^ in his hand, and the word of courage on his lips. He did 
not intend to use his arms, but bore them from a Swiss custom. 
Early in the engagement, when stooping to console a dying man, 
he was struck by a stone, hurled by some vigorous forester; he 
fell but rose again. Again he was struck ; again he fell. Thus 
it continued until he had risen the fourth time, when a lancer 
gave him a thrust and sent him reeling to the earth. "What 
evil is it?" he exclaimed. "They may kill the body, but they 
cannot kill the soul. ' ' These are said to have been his last words. 
Under the pear tree he was found lying, with hands clasped and 
eyes upturned to heaven, not yet dead. Some marauders came 
to him when the battle ceased, saw that his breath was not en- 
tirely gone, and they asked, "Will you confess? shall we fetch 
a priest?" 

A shake of the head told them as eloquently as his tongue had 
last proclaimed in the cathedral, "No, I will not deny my 
Saviour." 



* Those weapons were borne by him simply as a chaplain, according to 
a custom of the times. (Ecolampadius testifies that Zwingli went with 
the army, not from choice, but at the order of the council, and with the 
hope of being called upon as a conciliator. There is no evidence that ho 
struck a blow. 



300 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

*'If 3'ou cannot speak," the}^ said, *' at least think in thy heart 
of the mother of God and call upon the saints." He shook his 
head and still gazed heavenward. The soldiers began to curse 
him. *'No doubt," said they, ignorant of his name, "you are 
one of the heretics of the city. ' ' 

One of them being anxious to know who he was, and the 
night having come, stooped down, raised his head, turned it 
toward a fire that had been kindled on the spot, and then drop- 
l)ing it heavilj^, said in amazement, ''I think it is Zwingli." A 
veteran captain, a papist and a pensioner, then came near, say- 
ing, "Zwingli! What, that vile heretic Zwingli, that rascal, 
that traitor 1" The ca])tain then struck the dying Christian Re- 
former on the throat with a sword, exclaiming, "Die, obstinate 
heretic!" Thus Zwingli at last perished by the sword of the 
mercenary. 

The army of the five cantons had been victorious at all points. 
The Zurichers were driven into the retreats of the mountains. 
The night prevented them from being pursued. Tlie houi*s of 
darkness were hours of exultation with the victors. Many a 
Protestant was taunted in death as his heroic leader had been. 
In the morning some of the Waldstetters came to the pear tree, 
and pushed through the crowd that had gathcrc(i around it, to 
})cstow a kindlier gaze upon the face of the dead chieftain. "He 
has the look of a living rather than of a dead man," said one of 
them. " Such was he when he kindled the people by the fire of 
his eloquence." Another, who had been a canon of Zurich, 
could not restrain his tears. " Whatever may have been thy 
creed," said he, "I know, Zwingli, that thou hast been a loyal 
confederate. May thy soul rest with God." 

Soon the drum beat for a court to be held over the " dead her- 
etic." That lifeless body must be tried. Of course the evidence 



PERISHING WITH THE SWORD. 301 

was abundant in such a tribunal. The body was condemned to 
be quartered for treason against the confederation, and then 
burnt for heresy. The executioner of Lucerne carried out the 
sentence. The flames were but a symbol of the insults offered to 
the corpse. The ashes of the Reformer were mixed with the 
ashes of a swine, in order that nothing might be preserved as a 
relic. A lawless multitude thought this too brutal, and rushing 
to the scene gave the ashes to the four winds of heaven. A few 
days afterward, Thomas Plater went over the field of battle and 
found Zwingli's heart unconsumed, which fact was regarded as 
an evidence of his faithful love to the country, surviving even 
death and fire. 

One day — the awful twelfth of October — had worn away in 
Zurich. A frightful dai'kness hung over the city after it. Then 
came messengers with the dreadful tidings. Then, says Bullin- 
ger, ' ' there arose suddenly a loud and horrible cry of lamenta- 
tions and tears, bewailing and groaning." Two parties soon 
displayed their sentiments. The Romanists and pensioners were 
bold to express their sympathy with the victors. The other 
party, so far as it was separated from true Christians, pointed to 
the traitors in the city. ' ' Before going to fight the enemy on 
the frontier," they said to one another, "we should deal with 
those who are within our walls. ' ' Then pointing to the council- 
rooms, they were ready to say, "Let us chop off the heads of 
some men who sit there in those halls, and let their blood ascend 
to heaven to beg for mercy on those whom they have slain." 
Their words betray their Romish ideas. 

The greatest fury broke out against the ministers of the truth 

and the leading Protestants. Leo Juda had scarcely recovered 

from a serious illness. The mob rushed upon his house, drove 

him frofm it, pursued him, and would have slain him could they 

26 



302 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

have got him in their hands. A few worthy citizens took liiiii 
and hid him in their houses. 

Anna ZwingH had heard from her door the rumble of the ar- 
tillery, and offered fervent prayers to heaven. At length one 
awful report after another was borne to her ears. Oswald ^lyco- 
nius was in the street listening to the sad accounts of the cou- 
riers. One told that Zwingli had fallen. Zwingli is dead ! was 
the cry. It ran through the city swift as the wind. It reached 
the anxious Anna. She fell to the floor in prayer, for her hus- 
band had taught her the source of all consolation. Then came 
reports that the battle had laid in the dust her son Gerold, her 
son-in-law, her brother, her brother-in-law and other near rela- 
tives. Never, perhaps did a woman have a sadder report from 
the field of war. Scarcely one of her kindred was left, except 
widows and orphans. She closed her doors, she remained alone 
with her young children and her God, seeking resignation to the 
divine will. 

On a sudden the alarm-bell rang. The council had finally re- 
solved to defend Zurich vigorously, to call forth all her men and 
send them to the Albis. Commanders were sent to gather up 
the defeated, fugitive soldiers along the way to Cappel, and to 
organize new troops. It was possible yet to retrieve the defeat 
and to wipe out the disgrace by resolution and hannony. But 
there was not enough of union. The army of Berne was com- 
ing. It had not been pushed forward by General Diesbach, who 
was no friend to the Reformation. Lavater again appeared. 
There was great activity in reorganizing the men. Regiments 
came from the Grisons, from Thurgau, from the Tockenburg and 
from other quarters, until the army numbered twelve thousand 
111(11. Mvcn children ran to anns, but the council sent them 
liome. 



PERISHING WITH THE SWORD. 303 

Thomas Plater was sitting on tlie top of Mount Albis the 
night after the battle. He had gone out from Zurich in the 
evening, meeting wounded fugitives and frightened deserters. 
He wished to return, but was not permitted. John Steiner was 
gathering up the scattered troops and defending the pass, lest the 
enemy should press on into Zurich. His men bivouacked around 
their fires, and Thomas Plater among them. He tells us that he 
was benumbed with the cold and was sitting near the fire with 
his boots off. Suddenly an alarm was given, the troops were 
drawn up, and while Plater was getting ready, a trumpeter, who 
had escaped from the battle, seized his halberd. Plater wrested 
it from him, put himself in the ranks, and was ready to fight as 
a free volunteer. Before him stood the trumpeter, without hat 
or shoes, and holding a pole in his hand. Such was the army 
of Zurich at the front. 

We have not space to tell the whole story of the war. It is 
enough to relate some of the events and results. Captain Frey 
was placed in command of the Zurichers and their allies. He 
called loudly for a forward movement of all the troops, in all now 
about twentj^-four thousand men. They could have defeated the 
forces of the enemy and sent them begging for mercy to their 
homes. If God had designed that the gospel should gain a vic- 
tory by the sword, rather than by spiritual weapons, the Protest- 
ants might have won the field. But he intended, doubtless, to 
teach the Church of all time that the victorious weapons of her 
warfare were not carnal. He permitted dissensions in the ranks 
of the Reformed. Berne refused to press forward. 

The Protestants were assembled at Bremgarten, the Romanists 
at Zug. On the night of October 23d, Captain Frey set out 
with four thousand men, fell upon the outposts of the enemy, 
drove them back and took an advanced position. His imprudent 



304 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

soldiers then sank into a heavy sleep. The muin army of the 
five cantons saw it all and watched their hour. The next night 
they (luitted their camp in profound silence, wearing white shirts 
over their coats, that they might recognize one another in the 
moonlight. Their watchword was "Mary, the molher of God.'' 
Stealing into a pine forest near the Reformed forces, they 
rushed upon them, crying, " Har, liar ! where are these impious 
heretics? Har, Har!" The Protestants at first made a stub- 
born resistance, and many of the white shirts fell covered with 
blood. But soon the tide turned ; the bravest, with the valiant 
Frey at their head, bit the dust, and the rout became general. 

The aged Franjcis Kolb had left Berthold Haller at Berne, and 
came with the army as chaplain. He was provoked at the cruel 
negligence and cowardice of the Bernese. "Your ancestors,*' 
said he, "would have swum across the Rhine, and you — this 
little stream (the Sihl) stops you. They went to battle for a word, 
but even the gospel cannot move you. It only remains for us 
to commit our cause to God." Many voices were raised against 
the old preacher; others defended him. James May, a Bernese 
captain, was as indignant as the chaplain. Drawing his sword, 
he rushed upon the bear on the banner, thrust him through, and 
cried aloud, " You knave 1 will you not show your claws?" But 
the bear remained motionless, and so did the Bernese. 

Italian soldiers came to the help of the five cantons, attended 
by several missionaries to convert the lieretics. They moved 
toward Zurich. Great was the alarm. The pensioners threw 
themselves forward as peace-makers. Others said, "Above all 
things, preserv^e the gospel, and then our honour, as far as pos- 
sible." A treaty was made. It grant^^d to both parties their 
faith; the Protestant cantons were to have the gospel as before; 
the Romanists were to indulge in their ])opery. But tliere was 



PERISHING WITH THE SWORD. 305 

one lamentable surrender: such towns as Wesen, Bremgarten 
and Mellingen, and abbeys like those of Einsidlen and St. Gall, 
were to be abandoned to the five cantons. Zurich and Berne 
preserved their faith. They held all that Zwingli had really 
gained ; they lost what he never should have sought. The treaty 
was signed. The deputies of Zurich got off their horses, knelt 
on the ground, and called upon the name of their God. Captain 
Escher, an eloquent, hasty old man, turned to the Waldstettes 
and said : ' ' God be praised that I can again call you my well- 
beloved confederates." He then shook hands with the chief- 
tains, the terrible victors at Cappel. All wept, each offered his 
flask to the opposite chiefs, and parted in peace. The confederacy 
was saved, but not entirely reformed. The papists did not gain 
all that they at first imagined. The gospel was not expelled nor 
the Reformation crushed. The clouded sun would break forth 
again from behind the smoke of war. Men would hang up the 
brazen helmet and the sword of steel, and put on the whole 
armour of God. 

Zwingli was dead, having fallen under the weight of his own 
strength, not yet forty-eight years of age. The next day after 
his death the anger of Zurich was aroused at the fiendish treat- 
ment of his corpse. With eyes bedimmed by tears and voices 
strong with indignation they said: ''These men may slay and 
quarter and burn his body, but he lives — this invincible hero 
lives in eternity, and leaves behind him an immortal monument 
of glory that no flames can destroy. God, for whose honour he 
laboured, even at the price of blood, will make his memory 
eternal." Never was a funeral oration more eloquent and truth- 
ful. Zwingli lives. We forget his error in urging his canton to 
make war for the defence and extension of gospel liberty ; we 

insist that his motive was an honest, fervent, pious patriotism, 

26 * 



306 ULPwicii zwisaiA. 

somewhat misdirected ; we remember what a hero he was in the 
cause of God, and what a mighty work he accomplished. 

It was Thomas Plater who fir.st met Oswald Myconius after 
the evening of slaughter and woe. The teacher asked, " Is 
Master Ulrich dead?" "Alas! yes," replied Thomas. He 
could say no more. "Then lean live in Zurich no longer," 
said Oswald. The young man had eaten nothing for twenty-four 
hours ; his teacher took him to his own house, and at the table 
sat down by him silent and oppressed. Then, taking him into 
his study, he said, "Where must I go?" The student had 
another sad story: the pastor of St. Alban's church at Basle 
had also fallen in the battle; said he, "Go to Basle, and become 
the minister there." They soon after went to that city. 

Plater tells us another part of this history. Myconius was in- 
vited to preach the Council Sei-mon soon after his arriviJ, and 
it must be delivered at six in the morning. " When I entered 
his room on the appointed iflorning," says Plater, "I found him 
still in bed. I said, * Father, get up ; you have to preach your 
sermon.' 'What! is it to-day?' said Mj^conius, leaping out on 
the floor. *What shall be my subject ? Tell me.' *I cannot.* 
*But I insist.* *Very well, then, show the cause of our disaster, 
and why it was inflicted upon us.' 'Jot that down on ])ai)er.* 
I obeyed, lent him my Testament, and he went into the pulpit. 
The desire to hear a new preacher drew a large audience, and so 
eloquent was he that all wondered. After sermon I heard Dr. 
Simon Grynacus say, ' Oh, Doctor Suiter, let ua pray God for 
this man to stay with us, for he may do us much good.' " Thus 
Myconius t)ecame pastor, and shortly after he was called to suc- 
ceed fl^^colampadius. He grew warmly attached to Calvin, and 
Tuild as he was, lie felt a strong sympathy for V',\vv\ in bis fiery 
7A".\\ against every sort of Romish idolatry. 



w 



CHAPTEE XXV. 
THE smriroRS, 

(1531.) 

E remember Dean Bullinger and the generous welcome 
which he gave to all visitors in his house at Bremgarten. 
Strangers noticed there a child of intelligent features and stu- 
dious manners, who was introduced as Henry Bullinger. He 
was one of the dean's sons, born in 1504. He had incurred 
many dangers from his earliest infancy. At one time he seemed 
to be dead of the plague, but when he was about to be buried 
some feeble signs of life restored joy to his parents' hearts. At 
another time, a vagabond was so delighted with him that he was 
carrying the child away when some neighbours recognized and 
rescued him. At three years of age he knew the Lord's Prayer 
and the Apostles' Creed, and creeping into his father's pulpit he 
gravely repeated, with a full voice, the articles of his faith. 

When twelve years old he was sent to the grammar school of 
Emeric. The customs of those days seem strange to us, for, like 
Luther, young Bullinger was obliged to beg his bread. The 
students often found the rules very severe, and to show their dis- 
pleasure they marched oiF into the woods, made a camp, gath- 
ered little children into it and set up a sort of young republic. 
They sent the youngest of their number, with arms in their 
hands, to beg or demand bread. Often they fell upon the foot- 
traveller, robbed him and spent the proceeds in riotous living. 

307 



308 ULRICII ZWINGI.I. 

Henry was preserved from such wickedness, but he sang from 
door to door and won his sui)pHes, for his father wished him to 
live upon his own resources, and know by experience how to pity 
the poor. 

He was sixteen years old when he opened a New Testament. 
"I there found all that is necessary for man's salvation," he 
afterward said, ' ' and from that time I adhered to this principle, 
that we must follow the sacred Scriptures alone, and reject all 
human additions. I believe neither the Fathers nor myself, but 
explain scripture by scripture, without adding or taking away 
anything." 

Zwingli was one day, in 1521, in his study poring over the 
Fathers when a young man entered whose face won his e3^e and 
his heart. It was Henry BuUinger, who had been stud^^ing in 
Germany, and was anxious to know the teacher of his native 
land, whose name had become familiar in Christendom. The 
fine-looking youth was directed in his plans and hopes, and it is 
said that he was, for a time, a student under Zwingli. The first 
visit made a powerful impression on him for good. The example 
of the Reformer was before his eye when he returned to his 
fiither's hearth. In due time he became a preacher, and the 
successor of his father at Brcnigarten. We have had glimpses 
of him, and have quoted his chronicle. 

The battle of Cappel filled the heart of Bullinger with gloom 
and sorrow, for the great Protestant chiefUiin of Switzerland had 
perislied. The peace could give him little joy, for Bremgartcn 
must be yielded to the papists. The banner of the Lord must be 
removed; the voice of the Word must cease; popery must 
reign; persecution would cause woe in many a family and drive 
humble Christians into banishment. The faithfid would be as 
sheep among wolves. Only a few days after the treaty of peace 



THE SURVIVORS. 309 

the Swiss and Italian bands entered into those flourishing dis- 
tricts, which Bullinger had done so much to reform ; they brand- 
ished their weapons, laid heavy fines on the people, drove the 
gospel ministers from their parishes, and at the point of the 
sword restored the mass, the idols and the altars. 

This was but the beginning of woe in those towns, convents 
and bailiwicks which had been surrendered to the Romanists. 
The convent of St. Gall, of which Kilian had craftily secured the 
abbacy and died in trying to gain possession, was again filled with 
monks and insolent priests. Einsidlen, which Zwingli had con- 
verted into a sanctuary for the Word, became again the resort of 
superstitious pilgrims, who gave thanks to the Virgin that the 
chapel of ' ' Our Lady' ' was restored. The people of the five can- 
tons made a pilgrimage thither to express their gratitude for 
their victories."^ 

A strong man was needed to take the place of the fallen 
Zwingli. The eyes of the Keformed Zurichers were turned to 
Basle. Awful tidings had wrung the heart of GEcolampadius. 
"Alas!" he said, "that Zwingli, whom I have so long regarded 
as my right arm, has fallen under the blows of cruel enemies !" 
He was not the man to reproach the dead by saying. Would 
that he had taken my advice ; he might have been spared. He 
defended the memory of his brother Reformer. "It was not," 
said he, "on the heads of the most guilty that the wrath of 
Pilate and the tower of Siloam fell. The judgment began at the 



* '^ Einsidlen is the most renowned resort of pilgrims, not. only in 
Switzerland, but for all Middle Europe. The throng every year is still 
150,000, and last year (1859) it was said to reach a higher number than 
ever before, though in 1700 it is stated to have been 202,000, and in 1710, 
the incredible number of 260,000." — Cottages of the Alps {Scrihner), 



310 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

house of Grod ; our presumption has been punished ; let us now 
trust in the Lord alone, and this will be an inestimable gain.'* 
A call came for him to take the position that death had vacated 
at Zurich, but he declined, saying, " My post is here; I must 
remain in Basle." 

The plague was in the city ; all Basle was soon plunged into 
mourning. ' ' Our pastor is stricken with the pestilence, ' ' was 
the swift report. People of every age and rank hastened to hia 
house. It was not the plague, but a " black carbuncle" that had 
fiercely attacked his life. The gentle Beformer meekly said, 
'^Bejoice, for I am going to a place of everlasting joy. " Gather- 
ing about him his family, he celebrated the love of Christ in the 
supper of the Lord. His wife, children, relatives and domestics 
*' shed floods of tears." The d>ing man calmly said, '*This sup- 
per is a sign of my real faith in Jesus Christ, my Bedeemer. ' ' 
On the morrow he sent for his colleagues, to whom he said, look- 
ing heavenward, "My brethren, the Lord is there: he calls 
me away. Oh ! what a black cloud is gathering on the horizon I 
what a tempest is approaching ! Be steadfast ; the Lord will pre- 
sciTC his own." The Church was to pass through a storm. He 
then reached forth his hand ; the faithful ministers clasped it 
with veneration, and with breaking hearts turned from the 
peaceful scene. 

On the 123d of November — about a month after the last bat- 
tles of the Swiss — he called his little ones around him. The 
eldest was barely three years old. He took their tender little 
hands in his and said, "Love God, who is your Father, will 
you?" The mother made the promise in their name. He 
blessed them, and they went to their rest before he should fall 
asleep in Jesus on this last night of his life. The ten pastors 
of Basle were standing around his bed. " What is the news?'* 



THE SURVIVORS. 311 

he inquired of a fiiend just coming in. ''Nothing," was the 
repl}^ 

"Well, I will tell you something new," said the dying Re- 
former. His friends looked astonished as if some awful disclo- 
sure was to be made. " In a short time I shall be with the 
Lord Jesus." 

"Does the light of the lamp trouble you?" asked one of his 
friends, as there were signs that his eyes grew dim. Placing his 
hand on his heart, he answered, " There is light enough here." 
The day began to break, and he repeated with feeble voice the 
fifty-first Psalm, "Have mercy upon me, God, according to 
thy loving-kindness. " The ten pastors knelt as he added, "Lord 
Jesus, help me !" At this moment the sun arose and greeted 
him who was bidding farewell to earth to rest in heaven. CEco- 
lampadius — "the light of the house" — was gone to shine as a 
star in the firmament of God. 

Thus the second great light of Northern Switzerland was re- 
moved. He was "in an especial degree the spiritual Christian 
and the biblical divine," says D'xlubigne. "The importance he 
attached to the study of the books of the Old Testament im- 
printed one of its essential characters on the Reformed The- 
ology."^ Considered as a man of action, his moderation and 
meekness placed him in the second rank. Had he been able to 
exert more of his peaceful spirit over Zwingli, great misfortunes 
might perhaps have been avoided. But like all men of meek 
disposition, his peaceful character yielded too much to the ener- 



* He published commentaries, whose dates we note: On Isaiah (1525); 
Ezekiel (1527),; Haggai, Zachariah, Malachi (1527); Daniel (1530). 
After his death there were published notes on Jeremiah, Joel, Hosea, 
Amos, Obadiah, Jonah and Micah. 



312 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

getic will of the minister of Zurich ; and thus he renounced, in 
part at least, the legitimate influence that he might have exer- 
cised over the Reformer of Switzerland." 

Two great men were taken from the Church, and the void was 
felt. The chasm could not be filled. Luther was moved, melted 
to tears, and keen pangs came upon his mighty soul as he re- 
membered the Marburg conference. Years after he said to Bul- 
linger, ''Their death filled me with such intense sorrow that I 
was near dying myself. ' ' 

Young Henry Bullinger had been threatened with the scaifold, 
driven from his parish at Bremgarten, with his aged father, his 
colleague and sixty of the principal inhabitants. Their houses 
were pillaged by the Romanists. Three days later he w.is 
preaching in the cathedral of Zurich. "No! Zwingli is not 
dead," said M^^conius, "or, like the phoenix, he has risen a,!::nin 
from his ashes." The people were carried away by his wnnn, 
comforting sermons. They gave him the unanimous call, and lie 
became the successor of Zwingli. 

Young as he was — only twenty-seven — he felt as a father to 
the family of the deceased Reformer. He adopted the orphan 
children, Wilhelm, Regula and Ulrich, and reared them as their 
sainted father could have wished. When Ulrich grew up and 
preaclied the gos])el, he married a daughter of his guardian. 
Bullinger became the father of six sons and five daughters, thus 
adding no little strength to the Reformed cause. Two of them 
became ministers; three daughters married ministers, one of 
whom was the celebrated scholar, Josias Simler. One son 
fought for Protestant liberty under Philip of Hesse and Wil- 
liam Prince of Orange, and lost his life. 

Forty years long did Bullinger exert a most happy influence in 
Zurich and in the Reformed Church. He won the title of "tlit? 



THE SURVIVORS. 313 

second Reforaier" in his native land. In six years after the 
death of ZwingH the Reformation was not only firmly established 
in the cantons where it had sprung up, but its triumphs were 
extended in other directions where it had not been tolerated dur- 
ing the life of the man whose voice had first widely proclaimed 
the Word in Switzerland. The spiritual weapons employed by 
his successors were ''mighty, through Grod, to the pulhng down 
of strongholds." Anna Zwingli lived to see the day when the 
seed sown by her husband grew up into the great harvest which 
he had longed to reap. She died seven years after his death, 
and with him sang the triumph in the home of peace. 

Henry BuUinger was the true man for those quarrelsome times. 
Talented, gentle, wise, limiting himself to the work of the pen, 
the parish and the pulpit, he united the clergy, who had been 
severed by contentions, and drew to himself the good-will of 
many who had been enemies of his predecessor. His rich stores 
of learning, his unshaken firmness, his unwearied zeal in main- 
taining the great principles of Zwingli, made him a man of 
power. Not in principle, but in policy, did these two Zurich Re- 
formers differ; their work was one — their names will ever be 
blended in harmony. 

In Southern Switzerland, on the shores of Lake Leman, Grod 
had placed a man who was the light for which Geneva had long 
been waiting. On her shield was the motto, "I wait for the 
light;" she received it in John Calvin, for whom William Farel 
had prepared the way. An intimacy soon sprang up between the 
Reformers of Geneva and Zurich. Calvin visited Bullinger in 
1539, and attended a synod in that city. Letters passed between 
them. "How I wish that we could have a single day for free 
communication together!" wrote Calvin. "How well we could 
agree!" Again he wrote, "What ought we rather, dear Bul^ 
27 



314 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

linger, to correspond about at this time, than the preserving 
and confirming of brotherly kindness among ourselves by every 
possible means in our power ? . . . Our friendship, which com- 
menced so happily, and which rests on so soUd a foundation, will 
continue firm and entire to the last. Between this Church and 
yours, although I do not see that there exists any disagreement 
or secret grudge, yet I might wish there was a closer relationship. 
Let us be free from all appearance of offence. Forgive my 
anxiety, for I do not doubt your prudence or your courage. But 
charity hath this peculiar quality, that, while hoping everything, 
it is meanwhile anxious. . . . Adieu, most learned and upright 
man. Would that you may not scruple freely also to admonish 
me." 

Leo Juda, who had sung with Zwingli at school and in the 
convent* of Einsidlen, was touched by the plague in 1542, and 
taken away to strike a golden harp and sing with him in the 
Father's house. He had translated the Old Testament into 
Latin, and written more popular works upon theology. He had 
lived sixty years. BulHnger wrote : *'Our Church has lost in 
that man an inestimable treasure. As for myself, I have lost a 
good part of my life by the death of that much-beloved brother, 
and if I did not find consolation by the hope of a better life in 
that which is to come, and of the resurrection of the dead, I 
must have given way under my sorrow." 

Calvin also wrote to BulHnger: *'The death of our brother 
Leo, as there was good reason why it should be lamented by all 
good men, so also has it sorely afflicted me. For he had always 
evinced toward myself personally a singular affection, and when 
I dwell upon the loss the Church has sustained in the death of 
this man, it is impossible not to be deeply grieved. With us, 
also, the past year has been more than usually fatal ; for it 



THE SURVIVORS. 315 

carried off both Grrynoeus and Capito, and many other distin- 
guished men, together with Leo. Wherefore we ought all the 
more assiduously to sow the good seed, that the Church may not 
remain utterly destitute. ' ' 

One of the most brilliant men of that age was Vadian of St. 
Gall, so long the intimate friend of Zwingli. He seemed to be 
equally at home in poetry, eloquence, medicine, mathematics 
and scriptural theology. He was the model of all burgomasters, 
having been elected to that office eleven times. On a summer 
day in 1545 he broke the seal of a letter from Calvin, and 
blushed as he read the praises of a candid pen : ''Before I knew 
yoa personally, my dear Vadian, I always loved and respected 
you ; for you had become known to me by your excellent writings, 
in which both a wonderful candour, rare among the learned men 
of the present day, and a pious zeal of no common character, as 
well as your solid erudition, shine forth. But when at Basle, many 
testified of your astonishing love to me, and when, in receiving 
me, you yourself gave such abundant proofs of it, how could it 
be otherwise than that there should be some acccession to my 
former feelings toward you ? . . . . Add to this, that I saw that 
your friendship would be no small honour to me.^' Six years 
later Calvin wrote toViret: "I have now again experienced a 
fresh wound from the death of Vadian, whose labour, although 
of wide influence and calculated to be felt throughout the entire 
Church, was nevertheless of especial use in the State, and of 
great importance among the Swiss and Grisons. I feel my heart 
almost like to break when I think of the great loss the Church 
of God has sustained in the death of Bucer." The Vadian 
Hbrary is still one of the treasures of St. Gall. * 

Thus the good, the great men were passing into their rest. 
Oswald Myconius, labouring zealously at Basle, was preaching 



316 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

in the cathedral, when he was struck by apoplexy, in his sixty- 
fourth year. He never rallied. The plague carried him off in 
1552, and his prudent wife soon followed him. 

The seventy-nine letters'^ of Calvin to Bullinger prove their 
affection and union of spirit. They prove also that Calvin held 
a powerful influence in the churches of German Switzerland. 
One subject greatly interested them in 1555. We heard the cry 
of the pious monks of Locarno for the bread of life. Zwingli's 
hand was reached forth to the believers in that Italian city. 
Their number increased. 

The church which they formed had a brief yet bright career 
under the preaching of Becoaria, who had read the Bible and 
struggled up to the true cross. It was an object of deep hatred 
by the pope. The five cantons, having some authority over 
Locarno, troubled the church by every sort of intrigue and 
threat. The pastor was driven into exile. At length a forgery 
was perpetrated, without a parallel in the annals of treachery. 
The town-clerk was a native of Uri, the land of Tell. He 
forged a document which purported to be a pledge to remain 
for ever firm in the Romish faith, and to be signed by the sena- 
tors and citizens. It claimed to be somewhat ancient. It was 
laid away until the forgery would be difficult to detect. It was 
then laid before the five cantons as a genuine agreement with 
them to uphold the Romish doctrines, and to punish with death 
any persons who refused the mass. They set about enforcing it 
with glad zeal. A severe persecution was waged against the 
little Ijocarncsc church. In the winter its members were driven 
from their homos. Zurich offered tliem a refuge. On a mem- 



* Calvin's Lcttors: Presbyterian Board (>f Publication. There are also 
seven letters to Myoonius, 



THE SURVIVORS. 317 

orable day two hundred men, with their wives and children, left 
their native town. The story of their banishment and their 
march through the canton of the Grisons is a most touching one. 
Two hundred and twenty of them reached Zurich. Those exiles 
were the ancestors of many of the chief families still in that city, 
having aided in raising the place of their refuge, in manufac- 
tures, wealth and celebrity, above the other cities of Switzerland. 

Bullinger wrote : " The church of Locarno has been assembled 
by the magistrates of our city. The church of St. Peter has 
been granted to them. Bernard Ochino [the banished Italian 
Reformer] has been called to be the pastor of the exiled church. 
The men who have come to us are honourable. Our townsmen 
love and cherish them. ' ' 

Calvin replied, in effect: ''In this remarkable office of hu- 
manity, which your senate has displayed toward exiled brethren, 
there is a bright example of piety. The world may forget it, but 
in Grod's sight it will never cease to be remembered. To me it is 
not doubtful that some rare blessing of God awaits your city. 
Because to those who are in distress neither your counsels nor 
your consolations have ever failed, I offer you my most heartfelt 
thanks. ' ' Geneva and Zurich became refuge-cities for the per- 
secuted Christians of all Europe. 

Bullinger lived to mourn the death of Calvin, and to wail with 
the whole Protestant world over the horrible massacres of St. 
Bartholomew's day in France. Bayle says, *'He died like a 
good Christian, the 17th of September, 1575. He is the author 
of a great many books, for besides those which have been 
printed, and which amount to ten volumes, he wrote several 
others that are preserved in manuscript." 

With tearful reverence must he have sometimes stood by the 
pear tree where his predecessor fell, and remembered how 
■27* 



318 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

gloomy was the vision after that sad event. He had then writ- 
ten to Myconius, '' We will never come together again. No one 
trusts his neighbour any longer. Surely, surely, we live in the 
last times. It is all over with the confederacy." But he had 
lived to see the skies grow bright, and the land rejoice under the 
smile of the Lord. He had seen that war is not the work of the 
Church, that the halberd is for the soldier, and that the minister 
of Christ must employ the hammer of tlie Word, which breaketh 
the flinty rock in pieces. Not the strong mind of man, but the 
mighty spirit of God can govern the Church, and bring the 
world to a pure faith in Jesus Christ. 

Zwingli's pear tree has fallen. A rock has been placed over 
the spot, engraved with a suitable inscription to his memory. 
Like that rock is the Reformation, wrought by Zwingli and the 
men who followed him or laboured in the same age, preaching, 
as he did at Einsidlen, that "Christ alone saves, and he saves 
everywhere.*' It too is inscribed with the memorials of his 
name, his life and his deeds. It tells us that a peasant's child 
of the Tockenburg became a hero in the cause of God, and that 
Ulrich Zwingli holds a first rank among the illustrious Ke- 
formers of the sixteenth century. 



Our work is not oomplet-e without a fuller statement concern- 
ing Zwingli's character and theology. If his lilb were not an 
exhibition of great principles, it might not deserve to be kept 
before the Church. His general character " has never been sub- 
ji'cted to any very serious or formidable assaults. He was in a 
great measure free from those weaknesses and infirmities which 
have afforded materials for charges, in some degree tru(^ and to 
a much greater extent only plausible, against })oth liUtlun' and 



THE SURVIVORS. 319 

Melanchtlion. He usually spoke and acted with calmness, pru- 
dence and discretion, and at the same time with the greatest 
vigour, intrepidity and consistency. He gave the most satis- 
tory evidence of being thoroughly devoted to God's service and 
of acting under the influence of genuine Christian principle ; 
and his character was peculiarly fitted in many respects, to call 
forth at once esteem and affection. . . . 

" Zwingli was not endowed with the fire and energy, with the 
vigorous and lively imagination, or with the graphic power of 
Luther ; but his understanding, upon the whole, was sounder and 
his mental faculties were better regulated and more correctly 
balanced. He had not been led, either by the course of his 
studies or by his spiritual experience, to give such prominence 
as Luther did to any particular departments or aspects of divine 
truth. He ranged somewhat more freely over the whole field of 
Scripture for truths to bring out and enforce ; and over the whole 
field of Popery for errors to expose and assail. . . . Considering 
the whole circumstances in which Zwingli was placed, the oppor- 
tunities he enjoyed, the occupations in which he was involved, 
and the extent to which he formed his views from his own per- 
sonal independent study of the sacred Scriptures, he may be 
fairly said to have proved himself quite equal to any of the Re- 
formers in the possession of the power of accurately discovering 
divine truth, and establishing it upon satisfactory scriptural 
grounds. . . . His mental constitution gave him a very decided 
aversion to the unintelligible and mystical, and made him lean 
toward what was clear, definite and practical. ' ' 

Thus wrote the late Principal Cunningham,^ who admits that, 
upon certain points of doctrine, Zwingli' s precise views are not 



* The Reformers and the Theology of the Reformation : Essay v. 



320 ULRICH ZWINGLI. 

easily determined. No doubt thc}^ have been often misrepre- 
sented, even by those who have endeavoured honestly to state 
them. Perhaps no one has more thoroughly examined them 
than the author just quoted ; therefore he may lessen our labour. 
He saj^s of Zwingli : " His theology upon almost all topics of im- 
portance, derived from his own independent study of the word 
of God, was the same as that which Luther derived from the 
same sacred and infallible source." Yet at the Marburg confer- 
ence, he was obliged to satisfy the German Reformers that he fully 
believed in the divinity of Christ ! Such was the suspicion 
against the man who had preached that " Christ is everj^here, 
and he alone saves." It was a token of what was coming. The 
later, cooler judgment has been quite recently expressed by Arch- 
deacon Hardwick : "Notwithstanding all the heavy charges 
brought against him, then and afterward, it seems impossible to 
convict him of departure from the central verities of Christianity, 
such as the Incarnation, the Atonement, the Personality of the 
Holy Spirit, and other tenets of that class." 

One point made by certain writers against the orthodoxy of 
Zwingli is, that he altogether denied original sin. He did use 
some terms out of their ordinary meaning. He seemed disposed 
to limit the word sin, or peccatmn, to an actual personal violation 
of God's law ; in this sense sin would not pertain to the nature, 
but only to the conduct. He seemed to regard the cause of such 
ill conduct as a disease (morbus) rather than as a sin. Hence 
the supposition that he denied the natural depravity of man, but 
he did teach '4he great scrii)tural doctrine that all men do, in 
point of fact, bring into the world with them a depravity of 
nature, a diseased moral constitution, which certainly and in 
every instance leads them to incur the guilt of actual trans- 
gresiions of God's law, and which, but for the interposition 



THE SURVIVORS. 321 

of divine grace, would certainly involve them in everlasting 
misery/'^ 

Zwingli himself declares : " To attain the knowledge of man is 
as difficult as it is (according to a proverb) to take the cuttle-fish. 
For, as that animal is said to conceal itself from its pursuers by 
a black fluid which it casts around itself, so man, when the effort 
is made to search into his character, shrouds himself in such 
thick clouds of darkness and hypocrisy that no created eye can 
detect him. And so the prophet affirms : ' The heart is deceit- 
ful above all things and desperately wicked ; who can know it?' 
For instance, if you assert that the prophet here declares the 
heart of man to be depraved, that heart immediately devises the 
evasions, that depraved here means only propense to depravity, 
and that the declaration does not apply to all ; meaning to assume 
that it is itself free from depravity, and to prove it from its con- 
stancy in the defence of injured human nature ! Indeed the re- 
sources of self-love are so inexhaustible that few, or rather none, 
can arrive at a full knowledge of themselves. God therefore 
alone, who made man, can give the right knowledge of man. . . . 
Adam being dead (in sin) they who spring from him must be 
the same. . . . False theologues, satisfying themselves with ad- 
mitting that man \s> prone to evil, yet attribute to him a sound 
power of discriminating good and evil, and of freely applying 
himself to either the one or the other of them ; but this is only 
to twist a rope of sand, or to convert Belial into an angel, "t 

Very striking is this passage in Zwingli' s True and False Re- 
ligion : ''Had Adam felt that he had anything remaining after 
his fall, which might gain the favour of his Maker, he would not 
have fled to hide himself ; but his case appeared to himself so 



'^ Cunningham, Ee/ormere, etc. f De Yei% et Fals^ Religione. 



322 UI.RTCH ZWINGLI. 

desperate that we do not read even of his recourse to prayer. 
He dared not at all appear before God. But here is displayed 
the uiercy of the Most High, who recalls the fugitive, even when 
he is passing over as a traitor to the camp of the enemy, and not 
even offering a prayer for pardon : who receives him to his mercy, 
and, as far as justice will permit, restores him to a happy state. 
Here the Almighty exhibited a splendid example of what he 
would do for the whole race of Adam ; sparing him and treating 
him with kindness, even when he deserved only punishment." 
He teaches that men "can work no good thing" of themselves, 
so morally "diseased and corrupted are they become." He de- 
clares that the law " cannot render man righteous and pious ; it 
only shows him what he ought to be. We must all therefore 
despair of our own righteousness. ' ' 

This might be enough to prove that he did not deviate quita 
so far from sound doctrine in his views about the salvation of 
certain heathen as has been charged. True, he did intimate, as 
some of " the fathers" had done, a hope that some of the more 
wise and virtuous heathen were saved. He imagined that in 
some way the atonement might be applied to them, and the Holy 
Ghost imparted. But his writings prove that he held that none 
could be saved " by framing their lives according to the light of 
nature and the law of the religion they profess."* He taught 
that men were saved, if saved at all, only on the ground of 
Christ's atonement and by the Holy Spirit. 

Zwingli passed away before "the peculiarities of the Calvin- 
istic system" came to be discussed in connection with the name 
of the Genevan Reformer. Mosheim says that the doctrine of 
election was "unknown to ZwingU," in the form afterward "in- 



* Westminster Confession, ch. x. 



THE SURVIVORS. 323 

culcated by Calvin." Milner very cautiously says : '' On a care- 
ful perusal of Zwingli's voluminous writings, I am convinced 
that certain peculiar sentiments, afterward maintained by Cal- 
vin, concerning the absolute decrees of God, made no part of 
the theology of the Swiss Reformer." But Scott, in his '' Con- 
tinuation of Milner," has ranked Zwingli with the leading Re- 
formers on this very ground. He asks, '* Why, then, is all the 
odium of these obnoxious doctrines to be accumulated upon the 
devoted head of Calvin, who had never yet been heard of in 
public life ?" Zwingli would have been willing to share in the 
supposed "odium." He tells us that in his earlier life, when 
studying the schoolmen, he held to the view that God elects 
some men to eternal life, because he foresees that they will re- 
pent, believe and persevere in holiness. But he tells us, also, 
that he rejected this view, because it makes men the authors of 
their own salvation. 

''The question may still be asked," writes Dr. Cunningham, 
"whether Zwingli agreed with Calvin in those peculiar doctrines 
with which his name is usually associated ? . . . . We have no 
hesitation in saying, what is equally true of Luther, that, al- 
though Zwingli was not led to dwell upon the exposition, illus- 
tration and defence of these doctrines so fully as Calvin, and, 
although he has not perhaps given any formal deliverance 
on the irresistibility of grace and the perseverance of the 
saints, . . . yet in regard to the universal foreordination and 
efficacious providence of God, and in regard to election and 
reprobation, he was as Calvinistic as Calvin himself. ' * Of course 
the truth of Zwingli* s theology does not depend upon its agree- 
ment with that of Calvin ; the correctness of the theology of 
both is to be proved or disproved by the Holy Scriptures. 

A general opinion is that Zwingli held low and defective views 



324 ULEICH ZWINGLI. 

of the saci-aments, especially that of the Lord's Supper. He 
was not quite free from the charge. He is represented as teach- 
ing that ** the sacraments are just naked and bare signs or sym- 
bols," and that the reception of them is a mere commemoration 
of what Christ has done for sinners ; or a public profession of 
their faith, and a pledge to live a Christian life. Against this 
view the later Reformers zealously contended. John Knox 
in the original Scottish Confession (1560) declared, "We utterly 
condemn the vanity of those who affirm sacraments to be nothing 
else but naked and bare signs." Zwingli's views are not so 
clearly expressed. He was aiming to deny that the sacraments 
''confer grace ;" that in themselves they have a saving or sanc- 
tifying power. Insisting upon a part of the truth, he may not 
have grasped the whole truth, that "the sacraments are signs 
and seals on the part of God as well as of men ;" that they are 
means of grace. When Calvin and Bullinger brought the 
churches of Geneva and Zurich to the higher ground taken in 
the ' ' Consensus Tigunnns, ' ' the former declared his conviction 
that "if Zwingli and (Ecolampadius, those most excellent and 
illustrious servants of Christ, were now alive, they would not 
change a word of it. ' ' 

This may suffice. If Zwingli was somewhat erratic in giving 
way to his patriotism and his Protestanism so far as to take the 
sword, he was not a mere adventurer in theology, nor an enthu- 
siast in opinions which have ceased to command respect or 
belief His were, in the main, the great doctrines by which the 
Reformed Church won her triumphs. In general, his theology 
was that which has always been derived from the most earnest, 
|)icrcing and prayerful study of the Holy Scriptures. 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper proces 
Neutralizing agent; Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: April 2005 

PreservationTechnologie 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATIO 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 















■ '^ 






,.v^. -• .■'.■'■•, vvv <0^T 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




014 024 765 



-■•'^a 



